Date  Due 

& 


PRINTED   IN  USA 


PROCEEDINGS 

AT  THE 

CELEBRATION 

OF  THE 

Cwo   hundred  and   fiftieth   Hnnivcrsary 

OF   THE   INCORPORATION 

OF  THE  TOWN  OF 

TOPSFIELD,    MASSACHUSETTS, 

AUGUST    16-17,    1900, 

WITH   A   HISTORY   OF 

TOPPESFIELD  PARISH,  ESSEX  COUNTY,  ENGLAND. 


PUBLISHED  BY  THE 

(gnnii?et0at^  Committee, 
1901. 


PREFACE. 


In  publishing  the  following  account  of  the  proceedings 
at  the  celebration  of  the  two  hundred  and  fiftieth  anniversary 
of  the  incorporation  of  our  town,  the  committee  in  charge  is 
reminded  that  ''every  cloud  has  a  silver  lining,"  for  the 
leaden  clouds  and  pouring  rain  of  August  sixteenth,  made 
impossible  various  expenditures  that  had  been  planned  for 
that  occasion,  and  the  nucleus  thus  obtained,  together  with 
the  valuable  services  and  business  connections  of  a  member 
of  the  committee,  have  made  possible  the  publication  of  this 
volume. 

Every  effort  has  been  made  to  present  a  faithful  and 
accurate  picture  of  the  entire  celebration,  and,  in  addition, 
much  space  has  been  devoted  to  an  extended  account  of  the 
old  home— Toppesfield,  England.  By  the  kindly  assistance 
of  Rev.  H.  B.  Barnes,  rector  of  St.  Margaret's,  numerous 
photographs  and  a  description  of  the  parish  at  the  present 
time,  have  been  obtained,  while  the  editor  has  exhausted 
every  available  printed  source  of  information. 

The  anniversary  committee  feels  that  it  is  a  source  of 
much  gratification  to  know  that  this  book  is  the  product  of  a 
local  press,  and  it  also  wishes  to  express  its  acknowledgement 
to  all  who  have  in  any  way  contributed  to  the  success  of  the 
anniversary  or  to  the  publication  of  the  present  volume;   to 


Rev.  Herbert  J.  Wyckoff  and  Albert  O.  Elwell,  whose  excel- 
lent photographs  are  reproduced  on  the  following  pages  ;  to 
Messrs.  John  Andrew  &  Son,  of  Boston,  whose  engravings 
contribute  so  largely  to  the  value  of  the  volume ;  to  The 
Norwood  Press,  of  Norwood,  Mass.,  who  printed  the  illus- 
trations;  to  the  Merrimac  Paper  Co.,  of  Lawrence  and 
Springfield,  who  supplied  the  coated  paper;  to  M.  V.  B. 
Perley,  of  Portsmouth,  N.  H.,  who  loaned  half-tones,  and  to 
the  Connecticut  Magazine  Co.,  who  loaned  the  half-tone  of 
Gov,  John  Winthrop. 

In  presenting  this  report  of  the  anniversary  proceedings, 
the  committee  cannot  refrain  from  saying  that  the  citizens  of 
Topsfield  are  to  be  congratulated  upon  this  auspicious  end- 
ing of  their  quarter-millenial  celebration,  and  when  another 
half-century  shall  have  passed  away,  and  with  the  returning 
season  another  civic  anniversary  is  observed,  may  those  on 
whom  the  mantle  of  duty  and  responsibility  shall  then  fall, 
find  the  same  degree  of  pleasure  and  satisfaction  in  perform- 
ing their  task,  as  has  the  anniversary  committee  of  the  year 
nineteen  hundred. 


George  Francis  Dow,  Editor, 
Gilbert  B.  Balch, 
Alphonso  T.  Merrill. 

Committee  on  Publication, 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS. 


PRELIMINARY   PROCEEDINGS,  I 

RELIGIOUS    SERVICE,   AUGUST    12,    190O,  7 

SERMON.      BY   REV.    A.    W.    MOORE,  1 3 

ACCOUNT   OF  THE   CELEBRATION,   AUGUST    16,    I9OO,  21 

ADDRESS.      BY   REV.    GEORGE   H.    PERKINS,  2/ 

ADDRESS   OF  WELCOME.      BY   BAXTER   P.    PIKE,  29 

ORATION.      BY   HON.   WILLIAM   H.    MOODY,  3 1 

HISTORICAL   ADDRESS.      BY   GEORGE   FRANCIS    DOW,  3/ 

AFTER   DINNER   EXERCISES,  59 

ADDRESS.      BY   HON.    HENRY   CABOT   LODGE,  60 

ADDRESS.      BY   HON.   JOHN   L.    BATES,  64 

ADDRESS.      BY   HON.    DAVID   M.    LITTLE,  6j 

ADDRESS.      BY   GEORGE   A.    SCHOFIELD,  68 

ADDRESS.      BY   CHARLES   J.    PEABODY,  7 1 

ADDRESS.      BY   HON.    ROBERT   S.    RANTOUL,  73 

ADDRESS.      BY   REV.    FRANCIS   A.    POOLE,  75 

ADDRESS.      BY   CAPT.   JOHN    G.   B.   ADAMS,  78 

ADDRESS.      BY  ALBERT   A.    CONANT,  8 1 

ADDRESS.      BY  JOHN   W.    PERKINS,  83 

ADDRESS.      BY   HON.   AUGUSTUS    P.    GARDNER,  86 

ADDRESS.      BY   HON.   WILLIAM   H.    MOODY,  88 

ADDRESS.      BY   HON.    GEORGE  VON   L.    MEYER,  90 

ADDRESS.      BY   GEN.    FRANCIS    H.   APPLETON,  9 1 

ADDRESS.      BY   EDWIN   O.    FOSTER,  93 

THE   PROCESSION,   AUGUST    1 7,    19OO,  96 

LIST   OF  THE    DECORATIONS,  IO5 

TOPSFIELD,   MAINE,   SOME   ACCOUNT   OF,  I06 

TOPPESFIELD,   ENGLAND.      BY    REV.    H.   B.   BARNES,  IO7 

TOPPESFIELD,   ENGLAND.      BY   PHILIP   MORANT,  II9 


INDEX  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS. 


Academy  Building,  The  Topsfield,  54,  55 

Adams,  Capt.  J.  G.  B.,  Portrait  of,  59 

Agricultural  Farm  House,  The,  53 

Almshouse,  The  Topsfield,  63 

Appleton,  Gen.  Francis  H.,  Portrait  of,  59 

Averell,  George  F.,  Portrait  of,  i 

Balch,  Gilbert  B.,  Portrait  of,  i 

Balch,  Gilbert  B.,  Residence  of,  89 

Bates,  Lieut. -Gov.  John  L.,  Portrait  of,  61 

Bradstreet,  Dudley,  Portrait  of,  i 

Bradstreet  (Dudley)   House,  The,  53 

Bradstreet,  Gov.  Simon,  Portrait  of,  43 

Capen  Gravestones,  The,  51 

Capen  House,  The  Parson,  49 

Centre  School  House,  The,  55 

Chase,  Percy,  Residence  of,  8^ 

Clarke,  Arthur  A.,  Residence  of,  89 

Common,  The,  21 

Conant,  Albert  A.,  Portrait  of,  i,  59 

Conant,  Albert  A.,  Residence  of,  81 

Congregational  Church,  The,  15 

Congregational  Parsonage,  The,  85 

Crane,  Gov.  W.  Murray,  Portrait  of,  25 

Deed,  The  Toppesfield,  41 

Dexter  (Dr.  Richard)   House,  The,  53 

Dodge,  Albert  M.,  Portrait  of,  i 

Donaldson,  Wellington,  Portrait  of,  i 

Dow^,  George  Francis,  Portrait  of,  i,  37 


INDEX   OF  ILLUSTRATIONS.  VII 

Dow,  George  Francis,  Residence  of,  93 

Dry  Bridge  on  the  Turnpike,  71 

Edwards,  Benjamin  P.,  Portrait  of,  3 

Emerson-Holmes  House,  The,  85 

Endecott,  Gov.  John,  Portrait  of,  45 

Foster,  Edwin  O.,  Portrait  of,  59 

French-Andrews  House,  The,  47 

Gardner,  Hon.  Augustus  P.,  Portrait  of,  59 

Gould,  George  L.,  Portrait  of,  3 

Gould,  George  L.,  Residence  of,  85 

Grantham,  George  R.,  Portrait  of,  3 

Grist-Mill,  The  Hobbs-Donaldson,  71 

Herrick,  William  H.,  Portrait  of,  3 

Herrick,  William  H.,  Residence  of,  81 

Hood's  Pond,  Views  on,  67,  69 

Hutchings,  Mrs.  E.  W.,  Residence  of,  91 
Ipswich  River,  Views  on,                                                      6^^  73,  75 

Jenkins,  Thomas  L.,  M.  D.,  Portrait  of,  3 

Jordan,  C.  Fred,  Portrait  of,  3 

Jordan,  C.  Fred,  Residence  of,  95 

Kimball,  Mrs.  M.  S.,  Residence  of,  ^<, 

Kimball,  Paul  R.,  Portrait  of,  3 

Lamson,  J.  Arthur,  Portrait  of,  3 

Little,  Hon.  David  M.,  Portrait  of,  59 

Lodge,  Hon.  Henry  Cabot,  Portrait  of,  59 

Main  Street,  A  Part  of  the,  97 

Maple  Street,  105 

Meredith,  J.  M.,  Residence  of,  87 

Merrill,  Alphonso  T.,  Portrait  of,  i 

Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  The,  17 

Meyer,  Hon.  George  von  L.,  Portrait  of,  61 

Moody,  Hon  William  H.,  Portrait  of,  31 

Moore,  Rev.  A.  W.,  Portrait  of,  13 

Oak  Tree,  400  Years  Old,  67 

Odd  Fellows'  Building,  93 

Old  Road,  The,  105 

Peabody,  Charles  J.,  Portrait  of,  5»  61 


VIII  INDEX   OF   ILLUSTRATIONS. 

Peirce,  Thomas  W.,  Portrait  of,  5 

Peirce,  Thomas  W.,  Views  of  the  Estate  of,  83 

Perkins,  Miss  C.  Ellen,  Residence  of,  95 

Perkins,  Rev.  George  H.,  Portrait  of,  27 

Perkins,  John  W.,  Portrait  of,  61 

Pike,  Baxter  P.,  Portrait  of,  5,  29 

Pine  Grove  Cemetery,  51 

Pingree,  David,  Residence  of,  79 

Pingree's  Hill,  Vievv^  Looking  Down,  77 

Poole,  Rev.  Francis  A.,  Portrait  of,  61 

Poor,  Joseph  B.,  Portrait  of,  i 

Poor,  Joseph  B.,  Store  and  Residence  of,  93 

Procession,  Some  Features  in  the,  loi,  103 

Railroad  Bridge,  View  of  the,  75 

Railroad  Station,  The,  55 

Rantoul,  Hon.  Robert  S.,  Portrait  of,  61 

Richardson,  Abijah  B.,  Portrait  of,  5 
River  Views,                                                                             (i"]^  73,  75 

Roberts,  Henry  H.,  Portrait  of,  5 

Rowley  Bridge,  View  of,  69,  73 
St.  Margaret's  Church,  Toppesfield,  Eng.,            Frontispiece,  113 

Schofield,  George  A.,  Portrait  of,  61 

Smith's  Hotel,  91 

Stanwood  School  and  Church  Home,  The,  91 

Stone  Bridge  Over  the  Ipswich  River,  33 
Street  Views,  Topsfield,                                               65,  77,  83,  105 

Thayer,  Mrs.  C.  J.,  Residence  of,  ^"j 
Toppesfield,    Eng.,  Views  about,                                  107,  113,  121 

Topsfield  Village  from  Price's  Hill,  ^"^ 

Town  Hall,  The,  23 

Towne's  Bridge,  View  of,  73 

Trowbridge,  Charles  L,  Portrait  of,  5 

Turnpike  Hill,  View  Looking  Down,  79 

Wildes,  Eugene  L.,  Portrait  of,  5 

Winthrop,  Gov.  John,  Portrait  of,  39 

Woodbury,  Isaac  M.,  Portrait  of,  5 

Woodbury,  Isaac  M.,  Residence  of,  81 


.^0 


I 


^i^J 


^    ^ 


GILBERT    B.    BALCH, 
ALPHONSO    T.    MERRILL, 
Secretary, 

ALBERT    A.    CONANT, 


GEORGE    F.    AVERELL. 

DUDLEY    BRADSTREET. 
GEORGE    FRANCIS    DOW,  JOSEPH    BAILEY    POOR, 


Chairinaq, 

WELLINGTON    DONALDSON, 


Treasurer. 
ALBERT    M.     DODGE. 


PRELIMINARY   PROCEEDINGS. 


In  the  Secretary's  report,  presented  at  the  annual 
meeting  of  the  Topsfield  Historical  Society,  held  Jan.  6,  1899, 
appears  the  following  paragraph : — "But  this  Society  must 
not  rest  upon  its  oars  and  drift  with  the  tide,  for  in  the 
rapidly  approaching  year,  nineteen  hundred,  must  be  cele- 
brated, with  all  the  pomp  and  honor  possible,  the  two  hun- 
dred and  fiftieth  anniversary  of  the  birth  of  our  town,  which 
was  the  twenty-eighth  in  the  list  of  settlements  incorporated 
in  the  Massachusetts  Bay  Colony.  We  should  all  take  whole- 
some pride  in  our  honorable  record  as  a  town,  and  make 
every  effort  to  crown  our  natal  day  with  a  round  of  becoming 
festivities.  At  the  annual  town  meeting  it  will  be  none  too 
soon  to  discuss  the  question  of  'ways  and  means',  and  even 
the  appointment  of  a  committee  having  power  to  outline,  at 
a  future  meeting,  the  exercises  of  the  day,  and  to  submit  es- 
timates of  cost.  He  who  goes  forewarned  goes  armed  at 
all  points  ;  a  consideration  of  the  matter  in  ample  season  may 
prevent  mistakes  of  both  omission  and  commission." 

Public  sentiment  seemed  to  favor  the  observance  of  the 
anniversary,  and  at  the  annual  town  meeting,  held  March  13, 
1899,  the  following  article  appeared  in  the  warrant. 

ARTICLE  12.  To  see  if  the  Town  will  take  any  action 
relating  to  the  observance  in  1900,  of  the  250th  anniversary 
of  the  incorporation  of  the  Town,  and  pass  any  vote  or  votes 
relating  thereto. 

Under  this  article,  after  a  short  discussion,  it  was 

VOTED,  that  the  Moderator  appoint  a  Committee  of  five, 
to  retire  and  nominate  a  Committee  of  twelve,  who   should 

(I) 


2  THE  TOWN   OF   TOPSFIELD. 

report  at  the  next  annual  town  meeting  a  plan  for  the  cele- 
bration of  the  two  hundred  and  fiftieth  anniversary  of  the 
incorporation  of  the  Town  of  Topsfield.  The  Committee  was 
appointed  as  follows  :-George  Francis  Dow,  Albert  A.  Conant, 
J.  Arthur  Lamson,  Charles  J.  Peabody  and  Albert  M.  Dodge, 
and  a  little  later  it  reported  the  following 

COMMITTEE   ON   ANNIVERSARY   CELEBRATION. 

Justin  Allen,  M.  D.*  Albert  M.  Dodge. 

Joseph  B.  Poor.  Baxter  P.  Pike. 

Benjamin  P.  Edwards.  Rev.  Francis  A.  Poole. f 

Charles  J.  Peabody.  Alphonso  T.  Merrill. 

Albert  A.  Conant.  Henry  H.  Roberts. 

J.  Arthur  Lamson.  George  Francis  Dow. 

The  Committee  organized  by  the  choice  of  George 
Francis  Dow,  Chairman,  and  Alphonso  T.  Merrill,  Secretary, 
and  at  the  annual  town  meeting  held  March  5,  1900,  re- 
ported the  following  recommendations. 

Report  of  the  Committee. 

I.  That  the  celebration  be  held  during  the  moruth  of 
August. 

II.  That  a  historical  sermon  be  delivered  in  the  Con- 
gregational Church  on  the  Sunday  next  preceding  the  day  of 
the  celebration. 

III.  That  bonfires  be  lighted  on  the  hills  at  eight 
o'clock,  on  the  evening  preceding  the  day  of  the  anniversary. 

IV.  That  the  church  and  school  bells  be  rung  at  sunrise. 

V.  That  a  military,  civic  and  trades  procession  be 
one  of  the  features  of  the  day. 

VI.  That  historical  and  literary  exercises  be  held  on 
the  Centre  School  grounds.^ 

VII.  That  dinner  be  served  in  a  tent  located  on  the 
Common,  and  short  speeches  be  delivered,  interspersed  with 
music.  Dinner  tickets  to  be  provided  for  invited  guests,  and 
sold  to  others  at  one  dollar  each. 


•Declined  to  serve. 

tRemoved  from  town. 

Jit  was  afterwards  decided  to  have  the  literary  exercises  iu  a  tent  located  on  the  Common. 


BENJAMIN    P.     EDWARDS. 

GEORGE    L.    GOULD. 

GEORGE    R, 

GRANTHAM, 

WILLIAM    H.    HERRICK                                              THOMAS 

L.    JENKINS, 

M.   D, 

C.     FRED   JORDAN. 

J.    ARTHUR    LAMSON. 

PAUL 

R.     KIMBALL. 

TWO    HUNDRED   AND   FIFTIETH   ANNIVERSARY.  3 

VIII.  That  athletic  games  and  sports  be  held  on  the 
Common,  beginning  at  two  o'clock,  P.  M. 

IX.  That  a  band  concert  be  given  on  the  Common  at 
four  o'clock,  P.  M.,  and  eight  o'clock,  P.  M. 

X.  That  a  reception  or  ball  be  given  in  the  Town 
Hall  in  the  evening. 

XI.  That  the  town  appropriate  the  sum  of  five  hun- 
dred dollars  and  that  an  additional  amount  be  raised  by 
subscription. 

The  report  was  accepted  and  adopted  by  the  Town  and 
the  Committee  were  instructed  to  increase  their  number  to 
twenty-five  by  nominating  fifteen  others  and  to  report  their 
doings  at  an  adjourned  town  meeting.  The  sum  of  six 
hundred  dollars  was  also  appropriated  to  meet  the  expenses 
of  the  celebration. 

The  Committee  of  Arrangements,  as  finally  organized, 
consisted  of  the  following  persons,  upon  whom  devolved 
the  duty  of  making  all  the  preparations  for  a  suitable  observ- 
ance of  the  anniversary: — 


Committee  of  Arrangements. 

George  Francis  Dow,  -  -  -  Chairman. 
Alphonso  T.  Merrill,  -  -  -  -  Secretary. 
Joseph  B.  Poor,  -----       Treasurer. 


George  F.  Averell.  Charles  F.  Jordan. 

Gilbert  B.  Balch.  Paul  R.  Kimball. 

Dudley  Bradstreet.  J.  Arthur  Lamson. 

Albert  A.  Conant.  Charles  J.  Peabody. 

Albert  M.  Dodge.  Thomas  W.  Peirce. 

Wellington  Donaldson.  Baxter  P.  Pike. 

Benjamin  P.  Edwards.  Abijah  B.  Richardson. 

George  L.  Gould.  Henry  H.  Roberts. 

George  R.  Grantham.  Charles  I.  Trowbridge. 

William  H.  Herrick.  Eugene  L.  Wildes. 
Thomas  L.  Jenkins,  M.  D.    Isaac  M.  Woodbury. 


4  THE   TOWN   OF  TOPSFIELD. 

The  members  of  the  Committee  were  thoroughly  inter- 
ested and  frequent  meetings  were  held.  Rev.  George  H. 
Perkins  of  Gloucester,  a  native  of  Topsfield,  was  chosen 
President  of  the  Day,  and  Thomas  W.  Peirce  was  elected 
Chief  Marshal.  Congressman  William  H.  Moody  of  Haver- 
hill accepted  the  invitation  to  deliver  the  oration,  and  Repre- 
sentative George  Francis  Dow  was  chosen  to  deliver  the  his- 
torical address. 

The  incorporation  of  the  Town  occurred  Oct.  i6,  or  i8, 
1650.  The  actual  anniversary  date  coming  too  late  in  the 
season  for  an  out-of-door  celebration,  the  Committee  decided 
upon  Thursday,  August  the  sixteenth,  as  Anniversary  Day, 
thereby  following  the  precedent  established  at  the  Bi-cen- 
tennial  in  1850,  which  was  observed  in  the  month  of  August. 

Invitations  to  attend  the  celebration  were  sent  to  distin- 
guished persons.  The  list  of  invited  guests  included  the  State 
of^cials,  natives  of  the  Town  who  had  acquired  eminence  in 
other  places,  the  principal  town  ofificers  of  adjoining  towns, 
ex-selectmen  of  Topsfield,  and  others. 

The  following  sub-committees  were  also  appointed: — 

Publicity  and  Printing. — Alphonso  T.  Merrill,  Chairman, 
Gilbert  B.  Balch,  George  Francis  Dow,  George  L.  Gould, 
George  R.  Grantham. 

Invitation  and  Reception. — George  Francis  Dow%  Chair- 
man, Albert  A.  Conant,  Benjamin  P.  Edwards,  George 
L.  Gould,  Thomas  L.  Jenkins,  M.  D.,  Thomas  W.  Peirce, 
Baxter  P.  Pike,  Joseph  B.  Poor. 

Sunday  Exercises. — Charles  J.  Peabody,  Chairman,  KXh^xl 
M.  Dodge,  Benjamin  P.  Edwards,  Charles  F.  Jordan, 
Eugene  L.  Wildes. 

Bell  Ringing,  Bonfires,  etc. — Paul  R.  Kimball,  Chairman, 
George  F.  Averell,  Wellington  Donaldson,  Abijah  B. 
Richardson,  Eugene  L.  Wildes. 

Decorations  and  Illuminations. — Albert  A.  Conant, 
Chairman,  Benjamin  P.  Edwards,  Abijah  B.  Richardson, 
Henry  H.  Roberts,  Charles  I.  Trowbridge. 

Transportation  and  Carriages. — Charles  I.  Trowbridge, 
Chairman,  George  L.  Gould,  Charles  F.  Jordan,  Thomas 
W.  Peirce,  Joseph  B.  Poor,  Isaac  M.  Woodbury. 


CHARLES    J.     PEABODY. 


THOMAS   W.     PEIRCE. 
ABIJAH    B.     RICHARDSON: 

CHARLES    I,    TROVv'BRIDGE, 


BAXTER    P.     PIKE, 

HENRY    H.     ROBERTS. 
EUGENE    L.    Vv'lLDES. 


ISAAC    M.     WOODBURY, 


TWO    HUNDRED   AND    FIFTIETH    ANNIVERSARY.  5 

Grand  Stand  and  Band  Stand. — Henry  H.  Roberts, 
Chairman,  George  F.  Averell,  J.  Arthur  Lamson,  Baxter 
P.  Pike,  Abijah  B.  Richardson. 

Parade,  Military  and  Police. — William  H.  Herrick, 
Chairman,  Albert  A.  Conant,  George  Francis  Dow, 
George  R.  Grantham,  Thomas  L.  Jenkins,  M.  D.,  Charles 
F.  Jordan,  Paul  R.  Kimball,  Alphonso  T.  Merrill,  Thomas 
W.  Peirce,  Isaac  M.  Woodbury. 

Music. — Albert  M.  Dodge,  Chairman,  Albert  A.  Conant, 
Alphonso  T.  Merrill,  Henry  H.  Roberts,  Charles  I. 
Trowbridge. 

Literary  Exercises. — Baxter  P.  Pike,  Chairman,  Gilbert 
B.  Balch,  Dudley  Bradstreet,  George  Francis  Dow, 
Charles  J.  Peabody,  Joseph  B.  Poor. 

Dinner. — Eugene  L.  Wildes,  Chairman,  Gilbert  B.  Balch, 
Wellington  Donaldson,  J.  Arthur  Lamson,  Isaac  M. 
Woodbury. 

Schools. — Wellington  Donaldson,  Chairman,  George  F. 
Averell,  Benjamin  P.  Edwards,  Charles  J.  Peabody, 
Joseph  B.  Poor. 

Sports  and  Races. — Thomas  W.  Peirce,  (T/^^/r/zz^;/,  Albert 
M.  Dodge,  William  H.  Herrick,  Thomas  L.  Jenkins, 
M.  D.,  Paul  R.  Kimball. 

Relics  and  Loan  Exhibition. — Dudley  Bradstreet,  Chair- 
man, George  Francis  Dow,  J.  Arthur  Lamson,  Charles 
J.  Peabody. 

Ball. — Thomas  L.  Jenkins,  M.  D.,  Chairmaji,GQorgQ  Francis 
Dow,  Paul  R.  Kimball,  Alphonso  T.  Merrill,  George  R. 
Grantham. 

Contributions. — Joseph  B.  Poor,  Chairman,  Dudley  Brad- 
street, Albert  A.  Conant,  George  Francis  Dow,  George 
L.  Gould,  George  R.  Grantham,  William  H.  Herrick. 

Reception  of  the  Governor. — Albert  A.  Conant,  Chair- 
man, Gilbert  B.  Balch,  George  L.  Gould. 

The  Committee  on  Contributions  met  with  great  success 
in  soliciting  subscriptions.  Interest  in  the  celebration  in- 
creased as  the  day  approached,  and  with  a  treasury  liberally 
supplied  with  funds  and  the  hearty  cooperation  of  citizens, 
nothing  but  favorable  weather  seemed  wanting  to  make  the 
anniversary  occasion  a  complete  success. 


"yii/H'ete'e'n-  Ai'i/yu/i€^. 


/. 


^. 


^     ■ 


■»^t''Vt-e^-i.<i'Ci--t'-i^      VJa-t^^-t^^^e^i-e-e- 


i^^iTe. 


TPELIGIOUS  SERVICE  AT  THE  CON-*^ 
J%  GREGATIONAL  CHURCH,  SUNDAY, 
AUGUST  TWELFTH,  NINETEEN  HUN- 
DRED, IN  CONNECTION  WITH  THE*^ 
CELEBRATION  OF  THE  TWO  HUN-.^ 
DRED  AND  FIFTIETH  ANNIVERSARY 
OF  THE  INCORPORATION  OF  THEe^ 
TOWN  OF  TOPSFIELD,  MASSACHU-.^.^ 

i^Ci  X  X  ^^t^^  t^^  ^^  t^^  t^^  t^^  t^^  t^^  t2^  t^^  tS^  t^^  t^^  t^' f^^  t^*  9^^  t^^  t^^  t^^ 


Order  of  Service. 

ORGAN  VOLUNTARY, 

Mrs.  Frank  E.  Moynahan, 
of  Danvers,  Mass. 

VIOLIN  SOLO,  ^'Romance,"  Svendeen. 

Miss  Lena  Trowbridge, 
of  Melrose,  Mass. 

ANTHEM,  ''Ye  that  stand  in  the  house  of  the  Lord,"* 

Spinney. 

INVOCATION, 

Rev.  William  N.  Roberts, 
Pastor  of  the  Methodist  Church. 

HYMN,  ''O  God,  our  help  in  ages  past,"         Tune :   ''York." 

RESPONSIVE  READING,  Selected. 

Rev.  Herbert  J.  Wyckoff, 
Pastor  of  the  Congregational  Church. 

ANTHEM,  "The  Heavenly  Song."*  Gray. 

PRAYER, 

Rev.  Francis  A.  Poole, 

of  East  Weymouth  Mass. 


*Sung  by  a  chorus  of  fifty  Toices  directed  by  Mrs.  Genie  Fuller  Kimball. 

(8) 


DUET,  "Tarry  with  me  O  my  Saviour,"  Nicolai. 

Mrs.  Genie  Fuller  Kimball, 
Mr.  Edward  W.  Merrill. 

ORIGINAL  HYMN,  Tune:  -St.  Martin's." 

God  of  our  fathers !  we  adore 
The  grace  which  led  them  here. 

To  build  an  altar  to  thy  name, 
And  worship  in  thy  fear. 

We  thank  thee  for  the  fathers'  deeds 

Inscribed  on  history's  page; 
We  thank  thee  for  their  earnest  faith. 

Our  goodly  heritage. 

Built  on  thine  everlasting  truth, 

Sustained  by  love  divine. 
This  ancient  church  has  held  its  way 

Through  all  the  storms  of  time. 

God  of  our  fathers !  lead  us  on 
Through  all  the  years  to  come; 

And  with  the  ransomed  throng  at  last 
Gather  us  safely  home. 

Mrs.  Ada  B.  Dow. 

SCRIPTURE  LESSON,  Deuteronomy,  VIII,  1-20. 

Rev.  Herbert  J.  Wyckoff. 


(9) 


TOPSFIELD.    C  M, 


Jacob  Kimball,  1793. 


gg^^i^=j^ 


1^- 


1.  Lo !    what     an     en-  ter    -    tain   -  ing  sight  Are  breth  -  ren  who     a     -    gree; 

2.  'Tis     like     the    oil,     di     -    vine  -    ly    sweet.  On     Aa  -  ron's  rev  -  'rend     head 


-s>- 


9Sfe£ 


ES 


IIISZ 


^ 


-ir-^t 


=^E 


4^ o — 


^i^^^^^^^=^^ 


3=? 


# 


m^^: 


I    -  -  -    i    f  I        1^   r 

Whose  hands  with  cheerful      hearts     u  -  nite  In  bonds  of      pi    -    e      -     ty. 

The  trick- ling  drops  per- fumed  his    feet,  And  o'er  his    gar  -  ments  spread. 

^1  I  , 


i 


^v 


1^ 


:«: 


^-0 


-¥=t 


-P- 


m: 


:^=^ 


j:j^j_^4 


'-^-^i^T 


r- 


^-^^^H 


:^: 


When  streams  of      love,  from  Christ  the  spring, Descend  to     ev    -  'ry         soul 
'Tis     pleas -ant      as       the  morn  -  ing  dew  s,That  fall    on     Zi  -  on's        hill; 


^i^. 


^ 


±; 


^^. 


«^^t| 


ti=N 


:t=:=t 


mm 


And 
Where 

•Jacob  Kimball  was  born  in  Topsfield  in  1760,  praduated  at  Harvard  College  in  17S0,  and  died  July  24,  1826.    Musician 
and  composer.    Author  of  Rural  Harmony ;  Essex  Harmony ;  etc. 


And  heav'n  -  ly        peace   with       balm  -    y  wing, 

Where         God       His       mild  -   est       glo    -     ry        shews, 


And 
Where 


b—^ 


^^ 


mm 


m. 


II 


And       heav'n  -  ly      peace 
"Where     God       His     mild 


with 
■  est 


heav'n -ly        peace       with         balm    -   y  wing, 

God       His     mild    -     est         glo     -     ry         shews, 


heav'n   -    ly       peace       with       balm 
God         His      mild    -    est  glo 


i 


ru 


-n^ 


y        wmg, 
ry       shews, 


EE 


^=^— *-— • 


3 


balm 
glo    - 


y        wing,     with 
ry,      mild   -    est 


heav'n  -  ly       peace    with 
God         His     mild   -  est 


balm 
glo 

balm  -   y 
glo    -    ry, 


wing,     with 
mild  -   est 


balm 
glo 


n 


& 


y      wmg, 
ry     shews, 


wmg, 
shews, 


-J-  J  n^ 


9i56, 


Eb^ 


^^ 


with 
His 


balm 
glo 


y       wmg, 
ry      shews, 


i 


:iM=d 


n 


^^ 


I 


Efc 


--■^■- 


94ife 


EE 


Shades     and      be  -  dews     the  whole,     Shades  and      be  -  dews  the     whole. 
And      makes  His    grace     dis  -    till,       And     makes  His     grace  dis    -    till. 

21 


m^^mm^ 


SERMON, 

Rev.  a.  W.  Moore,  D.  D., 
of  Lynn,  Mass. 


HYMN,  "One  holy  church  of  God  appears," 

Tune:   ''St.  Ann's.' 


CORNET  SOLO,  ''Eternal  Day,"  Adams 

Mr.  Charles  H.  Kneeland, 
of  Beverly,  Mass. 

BENEDICTION, 

Rev.  James  H.  Fitts, 
of  Newfields,  N.  H. 

ORGAN  POSTLUDE. 


REV,   A.    W.    MOORE,    D,  D. 


SERMON. 

THE    INFLUENCE    OF    THE    CHURCH    ON    THE 
LIFE   OF   THE    TOWN. 

BY   REV.   A.   W.    MOORE,  D.  D. 


''Except  the  Lord  keep  the  city,  the  watchman  waketh 
but  in  vain." — Psalms  I2y:  i. 

The  Hebrew  Prophet  was  remarkable  for  depth  and 
boldness.  He  looked  beneath  the  surface  of  things,  and 
possessed  the  courage  of  his  convictions.  His  inspiration 
penetrated  far  into  the  realm  of  hidden  causes,  and  he  never 
shrank  from  revealing  what  he  saw  there. 

If  we  could  be  sure  that  the  title  prefixed  to  this  psalm 
was  attached  to  it  at  the  outset  and  that  we  have  in  it  a 
veritable  hymn  of  the  time  of  Solomon  we  might,  perhaps,  im- 
agine the  circumstances  which  gave  birth  to  it.  We  might 
picture  to  ourselves  the  most  opulent  of  the  Jewish  kings 
contemplating  with  pride  the  great  city  which  he  had  so  en- 
riched and  adorned,  but  with  his  pride  overcast  with  a 
shadow  of  sadness  as  he  remembered  that  material  prosper- 
ity alone  would  not  ensure  the  perpetuity  of  the  city.  But 
if,  as  the  critics  hold,  the  psalm  is  to  be  classed  with  those 
which  .were  composed  after  the  return  of  the  exiles  from  the 
Babylonian  captivity,  we  may  still  find  in  it  a  reminiscence 
of  the  golden  epoch  I  have  just  mentioned.     As  its  author 

(13) 


14  THE  TOWN   OF    TOPSFIELD. 

contrasted  the  magnificent  temple  of  that  earlier  time  with  the 
comparatively  humble  and  mean  structure  which  had  taken  its 
place,  the  abundant  inhabitants  of  the  former  city  with  its 
present  scanty  population,  the  fact  that  it  had  been  then 
the  capital  of  an  independent  nation  but  was  now  only  a 
helpless  tributary  to  a  Gentile  power,  and  as  he  recalled  to 
mind  that  this  mortifying  change  was  a  fulfilment  of  count- 
less prophecies,  the  sequel  to  the  warnings  which  had  been 
thundered  over  and  over  again  by  the  men  of  God  into  the 
heedless  ears  of  a  recreant  people,  it  would  not  have  been 
strange  if  his  emotions  had  found  expression  in  that  senti- 
ment which  has  since  become  proverbial,  "Except  the  Lord 
keep  the  city  the  watchman  waketh  but  in  vain." 

The  history  of  this  people  had  given  a  new  illustration 
of  the  truth  suggested  by  the  last  of  Israel's  greatest  prophets 
in  the  words :  "Not  by  might,  nor  by  power,  but  by  my 
spirit,  saith  the  Lord."  The  psalmist  implies  that  no  social 
organization  has  in  it  the  element  of  continuance  unless  it  is 
built  on  a  religious  foundation,  a  truth  which  very  naturally 
associates  itself  with  the  subject  on  which  I  have  been  invited 
to  address  you. 

The  ultimate  causes  of  all  material  phenomena  are  im- 
material. The  beginnings  of  all  visible  things  are  invisible. 
The  planet  on  which  we  live  and  all  the  stars  which  spangle 
the  heavens  have  been  evolved  into  their  present  shape  and 
condition  through  the  agency  of  forces  that  are  beyond 
human  comprehension.  The  various  forms  of  organic  life  have 
been  developed  into  their  present  state  of  complexity  and 
efficiency  by  influences  which  can  be  named  but  cannot  be 
understood.  Ever  since  men  began  to  investigate  and  reason 
they  have  been  asking  for  some  comprehensive  fact  which 
would  reconcile  the  seeming  antagonisms  of  nature.  But 
not  until  Newton  expounded  the  law  of  gravitation  did  they 
approximate  to  success.  Then  they  learned  that  it  is  one 
and  the  same  force  which  brings  the  autumn  leaf  fluttering 
to  the  ground  and  lifts  the  morning  mists  into  the  sky,  that 
unyokes  the  fury  of  the  destroying  hurricane  and  moistens 
the  earth  with  the  soft  patter  of  the  summer  shower,  that 
covers  the  inland  marshes  with  the  silent  tides  and  brings  the 
torrent  roaring  down  the  mountain  side,  that  keeps  the  moon 


THE    CONGREGATIONAL    CHURCH, 


TWO    HUNDRED    AND    FIFTIETH    ANNIVERSARY.  1 5 

in  her  attendance  on  the  earth  and  confines  the  earth  to  her 
orbit  around  the  sun,  that  sends  into  the  firmament  the  bale- 
ful glare  of  the  comet  and  fills  the  heavens  with  shooting 
stars,  that  brings  forth  Mazzaroth  in  his  season  and  guides 
Arcturus  and  his  sons,  that  binds  the  sweet  influences  of 
the  Pleiades  and  clasps  the  golden  buckle  of  Orion's  belt. 
Wherever  in  all  immensity  the  telescope  can  reach  or  the 
spectroscope  can  read,  in  nebulae,  in  galaxies  or  in  constella- 
tions, in  spheres,  in  wreaths,  in  spirals  of  golden  dust,  there  this 
immaterial,  unseen  but  omnipresent  force  is  at  work,  keeping 
harmony  in  the  visible  universe  and  holding  all  its  parts  to 
their  duty. 

And  woe  to  him  who  shall  set  it  at  defiance  !  Woe  to 
him  who  shall  not  adjust  his  conduct  to  this  all-pervasive 
law !  If  he  is  a  builder  the  factory  which  he  rears  will  be 
shaken  to  pieces  by  the  jar  of  its  own  machinery  and  fall  in 
ruins  upon  the  heads  of  those  within.  If  he  is  a  shipwright 
the  vessel  which  leaves  his  yard  will  founder  in  mid-ocean, 
and  only  a  roaring  maelstrom  will  mark  the  spot  where  she 
went  down.  If  he  is  a  balloonist  he  may  tower  in  his  pride 
of  place  till  the  clouds  hide  him  from  mortal  view,  but  that 
same  inevitable  force  will  reach  up  after  him,  it  will  grapple 
him  in  the  central  blue  and  he  will  fall  like  Lucifer,  never  to 
rise  again. 

And  men  have  ever  been  trying  to  find  some  supreme 
fact  that  will  harmonize  the  apparent  contradictions  of  the 
moral  world.  Under  the  same  system  of  natural  law  the  hu- 
man frame  is  filled  with  the  glow  of  health,  and  is  stretched 
pale  and  emaciated  on  the  bed  of  death ;  the  home  is  glad- 
dened by  the  prattle  of  merry  children  and  darkened  as  one 
after  another  they  are  borne  to  the  neighboring  cemetery ; 
war  is  unloosed  which  tramples  into  the  mire  the  harvests  of 
the  husbandman  and  fills  the  land  with  widows  and  orphans, 
with  helpless  cripples  and  new-made  graves,  and  out  of  the 
devastation  arise,  like  beds  of  violets  hiding  the  furrow  of  can- 
non-shot in  the  turf,  temporal  reforms  and  political  improve- 
ments which  bury,  in  time,  the  thought  of  its  ruin  under  the 
memory  of  its  resulting  blessings.  What  is  the  ultimate 
cause  of  these  seeming  antagonisms,  the  supreme  fact  which 
will  bring  them  into  concord  and   agreement?     The   ancient 


1 6  THE  TOWN    OF   TOPSFIELD. 

Hebrew  answered :  "It  is  a  character,  perfect  in  justice  and 
holiness,  consistent  with  itself  whether  it  is  producing  joy  or 
sorrow."  And  Jesus  added:  "It  is  myself;  the  life  which  I 
am  living,  the  principles  on  which  I  am  acting,  represent  the 
moral  character  of  the  universe.  Blessed  is  he  whosoever 
shall  find  none  occasion  of  stumbling  in  me.  Woe  unto  him 
who  shall  not  reconcile  his  life  to  my  own." 

It  was  because  the  Hebrew  seers  had  caught  a  clear 
glimpse  of  this  fact  that  they  launched  their  thunderbolts  so 
confidently  at  the  powerful  but  corrupt  states  which  flourished 
on  almost  every  side  of  them.  What  would  be  thought  of  a 
man  who  should  take  his  stand  in  some  valley  among  the 
White  Mountains  and  predict  their  speedy  overthrow,  who 
should  say  to  Mount  Washington,  "You  have  been  weighed 
in  the  balances  and  found  wanting;"  to  Mount  Jefferson, "A  de- 
cree of  fate  has  gone  forth  against  you,  and  you  will  soon  be  no 
more;"  to  Mount  Jefferson  and  Mount  Lafayette,  "The  time 
is  not  far  distant  when  you  shall  be  sought  for  and  not 
found" — and  should  then  turn  his  back  upon  them  and  wind 
his  way  in  silent  dignity  to  his  home?  What  would  be 
thought  of  him?  Why  the  very  echoes  that  came  back  to 
him  out  of  a  hundred  mountain  fastnesses  would  seem  to 
mingle  together  in  a  laugh  of  derision. 

But  what  would  be  thought  of  him  if  his  prophetic 
utterances  should  begin  to  be  fulfilled?  if  before  a  generation 
or  a  century  or  half  a  millennium  had  passed  the  mountains 
should  disappear,  one  by  a  volcanic  explosion  that  would 
shatter  it  to  its  foundation,  another  by  a  prodigious  landslide 
that  would  leave  a  sudden  gap  in  the  horizon,  a  third  by  the 
slow  erosion  of  subterranean  streams  that  would  hollow 
out  an  abyss  beneath  it?  What  would  be  thought  of  his 
predictions  then?  They  would  take  on  an  aspect  of  grandeur 
in  the  minds  of  men ;  but  it  would  be  the  grandeur  of  scien- 
tific knowledge.  It  would  be  said  of  him,  "He  was  a  geolo- 
gist. His  science  had  revealed  to  him  the  secret  forces  that 
were  at  work  among  those  mountains,  and  his  prophecies 
were  but  safe  deductions  from  the  law  of  cause  and  effect." 

And  there  would  be  an  analogy  between  these  predictions 
and  those  of  the  Hebrew  seer.  All  around  him  the  horizon 
was  notched  with  towering  cities  and  kingdoms.     There  was 


THE    METHODIST    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH. 


TWO    HUNDRED   AND    FIFTIETH    ANNIVERSARY.  \J 

Babylon,  impregnable  behind  its  massive  walls,  inexhaustible 
in  its  resources,  so  confident  in  its  strength  that  its  defenders 
looked  down  from  its  battlements  on  the  Persian  besiegers  and 
laughed  at  their  pigmy  preparations.  There  was  Nineveh, 
as  rich  and  powerful  as  Babylon,  and  larger  perhaps  in  ter- 
ritory and  population.  There  was  Tyre,  the  commercial 
emporium  of  Phenicia,  gathering  within  its  harbor  the  ships 
of  all  nations,  importing  the  luxuries  and  the  vices  of  all  the 
world.  There  was  Egypt,  the  hereditary  foe  of  Israel,  loom- 
ing up  in  the  south  like  a  thunder-cloud,  liable  at  any  time 
to  burst  upon  its  northern  neighbor  with  a  crash  of  ruin. 
And  among  them  was  a  people,  small  in  numbers,  occupy- 
ing a  territory  hardly  larger  than  the  state  of  Vermont,  di- 
vided against  itself  by  a  bitter  political  schism.  But  its 
prophets  hurled  their  denunciations  against  these  Gentile 
powers  and  doomed  them  one  after  another  to  destruction. 
To  one  they  said :  "Babylon  shall  become  heaps,  a  dwelling 
place  for  jackals,  an  astonishment,  and  an  hissing,  without 
inhabitant."  To  another :  "Woe  to  the  bloody  city !  .  .  .  . 
It  shall  come  to  pass  that  all  they  that  look  upon  thee  shall 
flee  from  thee  and  say,  Nineveh  is  laid  waste:  who  will  be- 
moan her?"  To  a  third:  "Behold  I  am  against  thee,  O 
Tyre  ...  I  will  also  scrape  her  dust  from  her,  and  make 
her  a  bare  rock.  She  shall  be  a  place  for  the  spreading  of 
nets  in  the  midst  of  the  sea ;  for  I  have  spoken  it,  saith  the 
Lord  God."  And  of  Egypt,  "It  shall  be  the  basest  of  the 
kingdoms;  neither  shall  it  any  more  lift  itself  up  above  the 
nations." 

The  proceeding  would  have  been  ridiculous  had  not  the 
event  proved  it  to  be  sublime.  As  water  runs  in  a  trench 
that  has  been  dug  for  it,  so  these  prophetic  words  seemed 
to  have  made  a  furrow  for  destiny  to  flow  in.  Babylon  and 
Nineveh  are  to-day  but  mounds  of  buried  masonry.  Tyre  is 
an  insignificant  town,  which  is  never  mentioned  in  political 
circles  or  in  commercial  reports,  and  Egypt  is  even  now  but 
a  helpless  prey  beneath  the  lion's  paw.  But  the  words  of 
the  prophets  did  not  bring  about  these  stupendous  changes. 
Those  profound  seers  had  a  clear  vision  of  the  destructive 
forces  that  were  already  at  work  in  the  moral  and  social  life 
of  the  doomed  states.     They  were  not  only  great  preachers, 


1 8  THE   TOWN    OF   TOPSFIELD. 

they  were  the  most  far-seeing  statesmen  of  their  time.  They 
knew  that  no  organization  could  stand  which  was  not  in  har- 
mony with  the  invisible  laws  of  the  universe. 

And  it  was  the  mission  of  the  Hebrew  nation  to  embody 
this  fact  in  a  practical  government.  It  was  called  a  theoc- 
racy, because  whatever  might  be  its  form  there  was  behind 
it  a  constitution  which  was  believed  to  have  been  written  by 
Jehovah  himself.  It  was  almost  never  without  devoted  men 
of  God  who  interpreted  the  meaning  of  events  and  associated 
these  with  national  acts  of  disobedience  or  of  loj^alty  to  the 
law  of  God.  The  return  of  the  Babylonian  captives  was  an 
effort  to  profit  by  these  teachings  and  to  establish  the  state 
anew  on  a  religious  foundation.  The  mission  of  John,  the 
Baptist,  was  a  final  attempt  in  the  same  direction.  The  Pil- 
grims and  the  Puritans  who  first  settled  our  New  England 
shores,  were  carrying  out  a  similar  policy.  And  your  own 
town  began  its  existence  under  the  influence  of  the  same 
idea.  At  the  very  outset  it  provided  for  the  preaching  of 
the  gospel  in  its  midst,  and  for  two  hundred  and  fifty  years 
it  has  kept  itself  in  contact  with  religious  truth. 

It  would  be  idle  to  attempt  to  specify  the  particular 
effects  that  have  been  produced  on  the  development  of  your 
municipal  life  by  the  constant  presence  of  the  great  facts  for 
which  the  Christian  church  stands.  Who  can  measure  the 
various  influences  which  have  combined  to  form  the  Ameri- 
can character — the  words  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence, 
the  freedom  of  individual  life,  the  geographical  features  of 
the  country,  its  interminable  rivers,  its  endless  mountain 
chains,  its  boundless  prairies,  its  fresh  water  oceans,  its  giant 
trees,  its  mighty  Niagara — all  of  these  things  are  sources  of 
psychological  influence;  but  who  can  separate  their  mental 
effects  one  from  another  and  assign  each  accurately  to  its 
cause?  And  so  it  is  with  the  church;  its  influence  on  the 
life  of  the  town  is  real,  but  it  is  recondite,  and  evades  all 
attempts  at  precise  definition. 

Even  the  empty  meeting-house  helps  to  educate  the 
people  near  it — that  unpretending,  white  structure  so  plain 
and  simple  in  comparison  with  the  more  ornate  styles  of 
ecclesiastical  architecture  that  are  now  prevalent,  so  appro- 
priate to  the  times  in  which  it  was  first  built,  outlined,  as  it 


TWO    HUNDRED    AND    FIFTIETH   ANNIVERSARY.  IQ 

was,  against  the  back-ground  of  the  perpetual  hills  or  against 
the  evergreen  of  the  primeval  forest.  Who  can  say  how  often 
the  sight  of  it  has  uplifted  the  heart  of  some  downcast  way- 
farer, how  often  its  glittering  spire  has  brought  supernal  light 
into  some  despondent  mind?  There  is  much  complaint  in 
our  own  time  that  our  churches  exert  no  influence  save  for  a 
few  hours  on  the  Sabbath-day ;  but  is  that  true?  Does  that 
shaft  on  Bunker  Hill  produce  no  educational  effect  because 
it  has  no  mission  but  to  be  looked  at?  The  patriotic  be- 
holder reads  in  it,  written  in  letters  of  stone,  the  truth  that 
the  men  of  peace  are  not  necessarily  helpless  against  the 
tyranny  of  the  men  of  war.  Are  the  soldiers'  monuments 
which  adorn  so  many  towns  and  villages  without  influence 
because  they  are  forever  silent?  There  is  not  one  of  them 
which  is  not  repeating  over  and  over  again  the  poet's 
prophesy, 

"In  the  hour  of  darkness  and  peril  and  need, 
The  people  will  waken  and  listen  to  hear 
The  hurrying  hoof-beats  of  that  steed. 
And  the  midnight  message  of  Paul  Revere." 

And  so  the  country  meeting-house  has  been  associated  with 
the  manifold  vicissitudes  of  human  life.  Its  bell  was  the 
first  to  greet  with  a  glad  welcome  the  dawn  of  each  national 
holiday.  From  its  belfry  clanged  the  wild  signal  that  told 
of  the  conflagration.  The  same  brazen  throat  counted  off 
monotonously,  by  day  and  night,  the  swiftly  passing  hours, 
and  mingled  its  solemn  notes  with  the  sobs  of  the  funeral 
procession.  And  all  the  while  that  silent  index-finger  was 
pointing  upward  and  teaching  by  an  unchanging  symbol 
that  above  all  joy,  all  danger,  all  time  and  all  sorrow  there  is 
One  who  holds  all  these  things,  and  human  life  and  destiny 
as  well,  in  the  hollow  of  his  hand. 

And  how  much  larger  must  be  the  influence  of  the  sub- 
lime truths  with  which  the  church  is  associated,  which  have 
flowed  down  upon  the  community  from  the  religious  services 
of  two  hundred  and  fifty  years.  They  are  behind  your  pub- 
lic and  private  charities.  They  are  the  source  of  the  purity 
of  your  domestic  life.  They  are  the  inspiration  of  whatever 
disposition  you  have  to  provide  for  coming  generations  ben- 


20  '    THE   TOWN    OF   TOrSFIELD. 

efits  in  which  you  yourselves  will  have  no  share.  Unrecog- 
nized and  unthanked,  they  have  doubtless  inclined  again  and 
again  the  scales  of  your  public  deliberations  on  the  side  of 
justice  and  righteousness.  They  have  furnished  the  force 
which  has  enabled  you,  times  perhaps  without  number,  to 
regulate  your  municipal  life  in  the  interests  of  public  morals. 
They  have  removed  from  your  cemetery  its  natural  associa- 
tions of  terror  and  gloom,  and,  by  the  texts  they  have  en- 
graved on  the  tombs,  have  made  it  seem  the  vestibule  of 
eternal  life.  Time  is  too  short  for  high  ambitions  if  it  is 
ended  at  the  grave.  There  is  little  encouragement  for  altru- 
istic and  self-sacrificing  living  if  the  opportunity  is  to  end 
when  the  foundations  of  the  new  character  are  hardly  laid. 
We  must  be  large  men  if  we  are  to  do  large  things  in  our  indi- 
vidual or  civic  capacity.  The  church  has  made  men  large 
by  revealing  to  them  grand  truths  which  take  away  the  limit 
of  time  from  human  action  and  put  all  moral  achievements 
and  success  within  our  reach. 

They  who  live  in  the  neighborhood  of  a  high  mountain 
hardly  realize  how  much  they  owe  to  it.  Many  of  them  do 
not  stop  to  think  that  the  fountains  of  clear  water  that  are 
bubbling  up  all  around  them  come  from  it,  that  the  cool  air 
which  makes  their  climate  so  agreeable  to  the  summer  visitor 
has  rolled  down  its  sloping  sides,  that  it  has  given  momentum 
to  the  streams  which  move  their  machinery,  that  its  summit 
has  intercepted  many  a  passing  cloud  and  given  it  to  them 
in  the  form  of  a  grateful  shower.  And  so  it  is  with  the 
church.  It  is  the  avenue  by  which  the  truths  of  God  are 
brought  down  from  their  high  sphere  in  order  that  they  may 
add  spiritual  blessings  to  human  souls.  Hope,  joy,  faith, 
self-sacrifice,  spring  up  in  human  hearts  as  a  result  of  them. 
They  lift  up,  at  times  most  obviously,  at  times  imperceptibly, 
the  individual  life,  and  by  it  the  moral  level  of  society  as  a 
whole.  For  the  town  is  only  an  aggregation  of  units,  and  what- 
ever serves  to  elevate  any  portion  of  these  cannot  fail  to  raise 
at  the  same  time  the  average  character  of  the  whole. 


THE  CELEBRATION. 


Very  little  rain  fell  during  the  summer  of  the  year  nine- 
teen hundred.  For  nearly  two  months  previous  to  the  date 
selected  for  the  anniversary  celebration,  hardly  a  shower 
moistened  the  parched  ground.  Then  suddenly  the  clouds 
opened.  On  Sunday,  August  twelfth,  when  the  anniversary 
religious  exercises  were  held,  a  pouring  rain  deterred  many 
from  being  present,  although  the  Congregational  Church  was 
crowded  with  interested  listeners.  The  three  succeeding 
days  were  filled  with  alternate  hours  of  hope  and  fear,  as 
sickly  sunshine  followed  drizzling  rain.  But  few  minds, 
however,  were  prepared  for  the  dismal  prospect  presented 
by  returning  daylight  on  Anniversary  Day.  Beginning  at 
four  o'clock  in  the  morning,  the  rain-fall  during  the  next 
eight  hours  measured  over  three  inches,  and  the  consequent 
disappointment  and  sorrow  will  long  remain  in  memory. 

An  excellent  account  of  the  celebration  as  finally  car- 
ried out,  appeared  in  the  Salem  News  of  August  seven- 
teenth and  is  here  printed  in  a  condensed  form. 


TOPSFIELD'S  BIG  DAY. 


OF  THE  CELEBRATION,   ETC. 


Well-laid  plans  of  weeks,  yea  months,  for  the  two  hun- 
dred and  fiftieth  anniversary  of  the  town  of  Topsfield,  were 
knocked  into  a  wet,  bedraggled  mass  yesterday  by  the  tor- 
rents of  rain,  which  fell  upon  the  heads  of  the  just  and  un- 
just alike  in  that  town.  In  fact  it  came  near  transforming 
the  town  of  Topsfield  back  into  its  original  name  of  "New 
Meadows,"  for  the  rain  descended  in  such  quantities  that  the 
streets  and  fields  were  as  flooded  as  any  meadows  in  spring. 
Although  the  rain  was  general  throughout  this  section,  it 
seemed  harder  at  Topsfield. 

For  a  long  time  the  inhabitants  of  this  beautiful  old 
village  have  been  preparing  for  the  quarter  millennial  anni- 
versary. Committees  have  met  and  arrangements  have  been 
made,  with  such  good  success  that  nothing  remained  to  be 
done,  but  reap  the  harvest  of  their  labors. 

Early  in  the  evening  preceding,  the  clouds  of  Wednes- 
day cleared  away,  and  the  stars  twinkled  as  if  in  promise  of 
a  fair  day  for  the  morrow.  Some  of  the  older  ones  shook 
their  heads  and  said  mysterious  things  about  the  wind  "back- 
ing in,"  or  something  like  that,  but  the  younger  and  more 
enthusiastic  scouted  the  idea,  and  preparations  went  merrily 
on.  The  decorators  worked  far  into  the  night,  to  finish  their 
labors,  but  long  before  dawn  it  was  apparent  that  their  efforts 
would  be  futile,  for  the  rain  began  coming  down  in  torrents. 
Even  during  the  early  morning,  a  slight  rift  in  the  clouds 
was  hailed  as  a  sign  that  it  was  going  to  clear,  but  all  signs 
fail  in  dog-days,  and  this  was  never  more  clearly  proven  than 

(22) 


THE    TOWN    HALL. 


TWO    HUNDRED    AND    FIFTIETH    ANNIVERSARY.  23 

at  Topsfield.  It  rained  and  made  a  business  of  raining  until 
the  afternoon,  and  the  protests  went  for  naught. 

And  yet,  the  residents  kept  up  their  courage  as  best 
they  could,  and  carried  out  the  programme  as  far  as  practi- 
cable. In  fact,  in  adversity  they  proved  themselves  strong, 
although  itwas  plain  to  see  that  their  disappointment  was  keen. 

The  celebration  started  at  daybreak  when  the  bells 
awoke  the  more  staid  inhabitants  of  the  village;  but  it  was 
a  gloomy  prospect  that  greeted  their  sleepy  eyes,  and  all 
the  rubbing  in  the  world  wouldn't  make  it  look  any  brighter. 
One  lone,  bedraggled  float  struck  town  during  the  early 
morning  hours.  It  was  an  A.  O.  U.  W.*  float,  bearing  upon 
it  a  model  of  a  house,  and  a  motto  stating  that  in  the  pres- 
ervation of  the  home  to  the  widow  and  children,  they  are 
made  happy.  The  sentiment  was  a  splendid  one,  but  a 
little  ray  of  sunshine  would  have  warmed  the  cockles  of  the 
hearts  of  the  towns-people  a  great  deal  more  just  at  that  time. 

The  early  morning  trains  brought  but  slim  crowds  and 
later  they  went  and  came  almost  empty.  Some  balloon  men 
came,  but  left  on  the  first  train  out.  It  was  estimated  that 
there  were  about  one  thousand  visitors  in  town  during  the 
day,  most  of  these  coming  in  the  afternoon.  Of  those  who 
did  come  earlier,  many  returned  to  their  respective  abiding 
places,  wet  and  bedraggled,  but  with  the  most  sincere  regret 
and  pity  for  the  towns-people,  that  their  labor  of  months 
should  thus  be  spoiled. 

At  eight  forty-five  o'clock  the  committee  having  the  ar- 
rangements in  charge  met  in  the  Town  Hall.  It  was  voted  to 
postpone  the  parade,  the  field  events,  bicycle  race  and  fire- 
works until  the  next  day,  but  to  have  the  literary  exercises 
and  the  banquet  with  after  dinner  speeches,  according  to 
programme.  The  reporters  were  at  once  notified  and  they 
communicated  with  their  respective  papers.  This  doubtless 
saved  many  from  going  to  the  town  with  the  hope  of  seeing 
the  celebration.  The  News  bulletined  the  postponement  in 
Salem,  Danvers  and  other  towns.  Word  was  also  sent  to 
the  Salem  Cadets  at  Boxford  that  the  parade  had  been 
postponed.  There  was,  however,  a  bright  side  to  the  day's 
events.     Although  the  rain  descended  and  the  floods  came, 

♦Ancient  Order  of  United  Workmen. 


24  THE  TOWN    OF  TOPSFIELD. 

they  didn't  dampen  one  bit  the  literary  exercises  or  the  after- 
dinner  speaking.  Each  speaker  seemed  to  vie  with  the 
others  in  putting  much  spirit  and  energy  into  his  remarks, 
to  offset  the  gloomy,  depressing  atmosphere  without. 

At  nine  thirty  o'clock  the  Reception  Committee,  consist- 
ingof  Albert  A.  Conant,  Gilbert  B.  Balch,and  George  L.Gould, 
with  Representative  George  Francis  Dow,  went  to  the  station 
to  meet  Governor  Crane  and  his  party.  The  train  was  late, 
but  when  it  did  arrive  His  Excellency  was  given  as  cordial  a 
reception  as  the  weather  conditions  would  permit.  There 
was  a  big  crowd  at  the  station,  largely  ladies,  and  every  spot 
beneath  cover  was  utilized  as  vantage  ground  from  which 
to  get  a  peep  at  His  Excellency,  as,  clad  in  a  black  mackin- 
tosh and  a  silk  hat,  he  passed  along  with  the  committee.  With 
the  governor  were  Lieut.  Gov.  Bates,  Adjt.  Gen.  Samuel 
Dalton,  and  Col.  William  H.  Brigham  of  the  Governor's  staff, 
Senator  Henry  Cabot  Lodge,  Hon.  George  von  L.  Meyer, 
Col.  W.  A.  Pew,  Jr.,  of  the  Eighth  regiment.  Senator  Guy  W. 
Currier  of  Methuen,  Senator  A.  P.  Gardner  of  Hamilton, 
Gen.  Francis  H.  Appleton,  Representative  Bennett  B.  Hum- 
phrey of  Peabody,  Mayor  David  M.  Little  of  Salem,  Hon. 
Robert  S.  Rantoul  of  Salem,  Ex-Senator  John  D.  H.  Gauss, 
of  Salem,  Maj.  George  M.  Whipple  of  Salem,  and  others. 
Congressman  William  H.  Moody  had  come  from  Haverhill 
earlier  in  the  morning.  The  guests  were  driven  in  carriages 
to  the  home  of  George  Francis  Dow,  near  by,  where  an  in- 
formal reception  was  held,  and  a  light  collation  served. 
Shortly  before  eleven  o'clock  carriages  took  the  guests  to 
the  Congregational  Church,  w^here  the  literary  exercises  were 
held,  instead  of  in  the  tent  as  originally  planned.  The 
change  was  a  wdse  one,  for  the  rain  had  soaked  through  the 
tent  in  some  places,  rendering  it  unserviceable. 

Every  seat  in  the  church  was  occupied  when  the  Gov- 
ernor and  the  invited  guests  arrived,  and,  as  if  to  dampen  the 
ardor  of  the  speakers,  just  as  they  left  the  carriages,  the 
flood  gates  seemed  to  open  and  fairly  deluge  the  earth. 
But  all  of  the  speakers  were  present,  and  were  not  in  the  least 
affected  by  the  rude  reception  of  the  Storm  King.  George 
Francis  Dow,  Chairman  of  the  Anniversary  Committee,  in- 
troduced the  President  of  the  Day,  Rev.  George  H.  Perkins 


GOVERNOR    W,     MURRAY    CRANE. 


TWO    HUNDRED    AND    FIFTIETH   ANNIVERSARY.  25 

of  Gloucester,  a  son  of  Topsfield,  whose  introductory  address 
was  a  splendid  tribute  to  the  claims  and  worth  of  his  old 
home.  Music  by  the  Choro-militant  band,*  which  remained 
throughout  the  day,  followed,  after  which,  the  invocation 
was  delivered  by  the  Rev.  Herbert  J.  Wyckoff,  pastor  of  the 
Congregational  Church. 

Baxter  P.  Pike,  Chairman  of  the  Board  of  Selectmen, 
then  gave  the  address  of  welcome,  it  being  received  with 
vigorous  applause.  Seated  in  the  organ  loft,  one  hundred  and 
fifty  school  children,  directed  by  Mrs.  Genie  Fuller  Kimball, 
sang  Keller's  American  Hymn,  a  sweet  and  impressive  rendi- 
tion of  this  beautiful  composition.  This  was  followed  by 
Congressman  William  H.  Moody's  oration.  The  old  edifice 
fairly  shook  with  the  thunderous  applause  which  greeted  the 
magnificent  production  of  this  eloquent  speaker. 

The  President  of  the  Day  then  read  a  cablegram  just 
received  from  Toppesfield,  England.  ''Congratulations  from 
Toppesfield,"  and  the  following  response,  "A  daughter's 
cordial  greeting,"  was  flashed  under  seas  to  the  old  home  in 
Essex.  "To  thee,  O  Country"  was  sung  by  the  school 
children,  and  the  exercises  closed  with  the  historical  address 
by  George  Francis  Dow,  an  intensely  interesting,  carefully 
prepared,  and  well  delivered  production,  and  the  singing  of 
"America,"  by  the  audience,  the  rich  harmony  of  the  grand 
old  hymn  swelling  deep  and  strong  toward  Heaven. 

Dinner  was  served  at  one  o'clock,  in  the  large  tent  on 
the  Common.  About  four  hundred  and  fifty  people  were 
present. 

After  the  dinner,  which  was  an  unusually  fine  one  and 
served  by  Dill,  of  Melrose,  those  who  did  not  partake  of  the 
banquet  were  admitted  to  listen  to  the  speaking. 

****  ***** 

The  celebration  was  concluded  in  the  evening  by  a 
grand  ball  in  the  Town  Hall,  which  was  elaborately  decorated 
for  the  occasion.  The  Salem  Cadet  Orchestra  furnished 
the  music. 


*Tberon  W.  Perkins,  the  leader,  a  native  of  Topsfield. 


LITERARY  EXERCISES 

AT  THE 
CELEBRATION  OF  THE  250th  ANNIVERSARY 

of  the  Incorporation  of  the  Town  of 

TOPSFIELD,   MASSACHUSETTS, 
August   16,    1900. 

ADDRESS. 

Rev.  George  H.  Perkins,  of  Gloucester,  Mass., 

President  of  the  Day. 

MUSIC. 

Perkins'  Choro-Militant  Band. 

INVOCATION. 

Rev.  Herbert  J.  Wyckoff, 
Pastor  of  the  Congregational  Church. 

ADDRESS    OP    WELCOME. 

Baxter  P.  Pike, 
Chairman  of  the  Board  of  Selectmen. 

SINGING. 

The  American  Hymn,  .  .         .         .         -  Keller. 

Chorus  of  School  Children,  directed  by  Mrs.  Genie  Fuller  Kimball. 

ORATION. 
Congressman  William  H.  Moody. 

SINGING. 

To  Thee,  O  Country, Eichberg. 

Chorus  of  School  Children. 

HISTORICAL    ADDRESS. 

George  Francis  Dow. 

America, Smith. 

The  Audience  is  requested  to  rise  and  join  with  the  Band 
and  School  Children  in  singing  the  National  Hymn. 

(26) 


REV,    GEORGE    H.    PERKINS. 


ADDRESS. 

BY   REV.    GEORGE   H.    PERKINS,    PRESIDENT   OF  THE   DAY. 


Ladies  and  Gentlemen,  Citizens  of  Topsjield,  and  Hon- 
ored G  nests: — 

The  incorporation  of  a  New  England  town  is  an  event  of 
no  slight  significance.  Applying  to  the  General  Court,  in 
due  form,  our  fathers  obtained  the  charter,  and  on  these 
beautiful  plains  and  hill-sides,  formerly  laid  the  foundations 
of  this  little  community,  which  for  two  hundred  and  fifty 
years,  has  played  an  honorable  part  in  the  life  of  the  com- 
monwealth and  of  the  nation. 

We,  the  happy  sons  and  daughters,  are  gathered  to-day 
at  the  old  town  fireside,  to  exchange  greetings,  to  recount 
history,  and  to  rededicate  ourselves  to  the  great  principles, 
political,  social  and  religious,  which  have  made  Topsfield  a 
pillar  of  strength  in  the  temple  of  our  republic. 

We  have  no  increasing  population,  and  no  growing  in- 
dustries to  excite  our  jubilations,  or  to  awaken  anticipations 
of  future  greatness.  Topsfield  has  stood  here  in  its  rural 
simplicity,  subject  to  changes,  incident,  chiefly  to  the  general 
progress  of  the  centuries.  But  the  natural  characteristics  of 
the  township,  and  our  historic  legacy,  are  sufficient  to  war- 
rant a  most  joyful  celebration  of  the  event  which  so  early 
gave  Topsfield  a  place  among  New  England  towns. 

Beautiful  for  situation,  it  commands  in  view  not  only  the 
charm  of  its  own  valley,  but  from  the  hill-top  fields,  it  looks 
away  inland,  over  billowy  forests,  to  distant  mountains,  and 

(27) 


28  THE   TOWN   OF    TOPSFIELD. 

away  sea-ward,  over  sister  villages  and  lesser  hills  to  the 
mother  towns,  where  Salem's  temple  spires  speak  the  faith  of 
our  fathers,  and  where  the  white  sand  dunes  of  Ipswich  Bay 
glisten  in  the  morning  sun,  and  the  crested  seas  that  bore  our 
sires  from  far  off  shores,  still  break  in  evening  splendor. 

The  record  of  our  home  town,  as  we  shall  learn  to-day, 
is  a  cause  of  just  pride  and  of  gratitude.  It  has  been  a  home 
of  Puritan  virtues,  of  patriotism,  of  education  and  of  religion. 
She  has  made  noble  contributions  of  her  offspring  to  a  thou- 
sand communities,  and  to  every  respectable  vocation.  She 
has  reared  sons  who  have  honored  all  the  learned  professions, 
and  magnified  the  higher  offices  of  the  land.  While  not  a 
few  have  become  eminent  in  industrial  and  commercial  pur- 
suits. She  has  held  herself  ready  from  the  earliest  days,  for 
the  call  to  arms,  and  made  herself  proud  on  fields  of  battle. 
Topsfield,  the  "New  Meadows"  of  our  primitive  age,  like  the 
stream  that  fiows  through  its  mead,  has  continued  to  pour 
into  the  sea  of  humanity,  some  new  life  that  has  enlarged  and 
enriched  the  world.  The  streams  of  influence  from  this  foun- 
tain head  of  noblest  virtues,  have  found  their  way  not  only 
into  the  state,  but  over-spreading  the  lands  of  the  west  and 
the  south,  and  winding  through  various  mountains  and  val- 
leys, they  now  renew  the  earth  upon  our  most  distant  bor- 
ders. More  than  this,  old  Topsfield  by  her  descendants  of 
two  hundred  and  fifty  years,  is  to-day,  a  moral  force  in  every 
great  branch  of  the  human  family. 

What  is  to  be  her  future  no  seer  has  yet  announced. 
May  there  not  be  a  good  providence  in  the  preservation  of 
this  little  section  of  country  so  nearly  in  its  primitive  state? 
Now  so  convenient  to  centres  of  population,  and  yet  simple, 
rural,  restful,  healthful  and  beautiful.  No  great  industries, 
but  men  of  industry  can  rest  here.  No  growing  population, 
but  quiet  and  virtue  are  here.  These  are  great  needs  of 
mankind  to-day. 

Let  Topsfield  continue  as  it  is, — a  place  of  agricultural 
industry,  and  modest  manufacturing  interests;  an  increas- 
ingly residential  community  ;  Nature's  retreat  for  weary  bodies 
and  tired  brains  ;  a  home  of  virtue  and  a  source  of  life  for 
the  nation,  and  fifty  years  hence  it  will  be  worthy  of  another 
celebration. 


BAXTER    P.    PIKE. 


ADDRESS  OF  WELCOME. 

BY   BAXTER   P.    PIKE, 
CHAIRMAN   OF  THE   BOARD   OF   SELECTMEN. 


Mr.  President  and  Ladies  and  Gentlemen: — We  meet 
today  to  commemorate  an  event  of  great  historic  importance 
to  all  whose  interest  is  quickened  by  birth,  residence  or  mar- 
riage ties.  In  thus  emphasizing  this  particular  occasion,  we 
claim  no  special  patent. 

It  has  been  the  custom  of  all  ages  and  races  of  men  to 
mark  important  events  in  their  histories  by  exercises  flatter- 
ing to  their  local  or  national  pri  .  The  mind  is  ever  fond 
of  instituting  comparisons  and  passing  in  review,  the  various 
stages  of  growth  and  development. 

The  life  of  a  town  will  never  cease  to  be  of  interest  to 
its  true  sons  and  daughters,  wherever  they  maybe  located  or 
however  situated.  I  will  not  refer  to  the  historical  events  of 
the  town,  but  will  leave  them  to  the  historian,  to  whom  they 
belong. 

Brothers  and  sisters,  sons  and  daughters  of  Topsfield, 
and  honored  guests,  with  heart  and  hand  we  bid  you  welcome 
to  the  festivities  of  this  occasion.  We  have  killed  the  fatted 
calf,  and  with  you  would  rejoice  and  make  merry,  not  over 
the  returning  prodigal,  but  over  the  return  of  those  sons  and 
daughters,  who  by  virtuous  lives  and  noble  deeds,  have  hon- 
ored the  town  that  gave  them  birth ;  and  may  we  all  be  bet- 
ter for  this  day's  festivities,  our  patriotism  more  ardent,  our 

(39) 


30 


THE  TOWN    OF  TOPSFIELD. 


faith  deeper,  and  our  lives  purer  for  the  emotions  which  the 
exercises  of  today  shall  stir  in  our  breasts  and  long  may  the 
good  old  town  of  Topsfield  (she  has  still  the  vigor  and  fresh- 
ness of  youth)  ;  long  may  she  live  to  bless  the  world  by 
raising  sons  and  daughters  to  noble  achievements  in  the  great 
drama  of  life. 

To  all  who  have  come  from  far  or  near,  from  long  or 
short  wanderings  from  the  old  hearth  stone,  you  are  one  with 
us  today.  We  thank  you  for  the  special  honor  you  bestow 
upon  us  by  your  return  and  presence  on  this  anniversary, 
and  most  heartily  we  thank  you  for  the  honor  you  have  re- 
flected upon  Topsfield  in  your  wnde-spread  fields  of  duty  and 
service. 

We  bid  friends  and  neighbors  from  adjoining  towns  a 
cordial  welcome  to  the  participation  in  this  celebration.  Fit- 
ly do  you  favor  us  today,  since  in  the  early  history,  Topsfield 
was  part  and  parcel  with  you. 

We  welcome  you  to  our  hearts ;  we  welcome  you  to  our 
homes;  and  now,  in  behalf  of  the  citizens  of  Topsfield,  I 
welcome  you,  one  and  all,  to  the  celebration  of  the  two  hun- 
dred and  fiftieth  anniversary  of  the  incorporation  of  the  town 
of  Topsfield. 


HON.    WILLIAM    H.    MOODY, 


ORATION. 


BY   HON.    WILLIAM    H.    MOODY. 


I  am  glad  to  be  here  today.  I  prize  the  honor  of  taking 
part  in  these  anniversary  exercises  and  saying  a  few  words 
which  I  hope  may  be  in  harmony  with  the  spirit  of  the  occa- 
sion. Few  though  the  words  be,  it  is  not  so  easy  to  choose 
them.  For  many  topics  which  are  of  the  first  interest  are 
denied  to  me.  It  is  not  for  me  to  recount  the  annals  of  your 
township,  nor  to  recall  to  memory  the  half  forgotten  story  of 
those  who  sleep  in  your  ancient  burial  place,  or  who  having 
gone  hence,  endowed  with  the  sweet  and  strong  and  healthful 
spirit  of  the  New  England  village,  to  play  a  part  upon  a  wider 
stage,  have  won  there  the  rewards  of  a  life  of  achievement. 
These  duties  will  be  performed  by  the  accomplished  hands 
to  which  you  have  entrusted  them. 

Yet  when  these  are  done,  it  is  not  all.  The  dif^culty 
comes  not  because  the  field  for  further  speech  is  so  narrow, 
but  because  it  is  so  wide.  So  many  familiar  thoughts  come 
thronging  to  the  mind  upon  an  occasion  like  this  that  it  is 
hard  to  choose  between  them,  and  find  those  which  are  fitting 
for  utterance  within  appropriate  limits  of  time.  The  celebra- 
tions of  these  anniversaries  which  have  become  so  frequent 
in  the  older  parts  of  our  country,  arouse  an  interest  which 
extends  far  beyond  the  borders  of  the  communities  in  which 
they  occur.  The  reason  for  this  is  not  far  to  seek.  The 
fathers  lived  their  simple  lives  and  went  quietly  to  their  last 

(31) 


32  THE   TOWN    OF   TOPSFIELD. 

resting  places  with  no  thought  of  their  significance  in  the 
world's  history,  for  it  is  not  given  to  any,  except  the  prophet 
and  the  seer,  to  understand  the  hidden  meaning  of  his  own 
time.  But  the  secret  is  revealed.  We  understand  today. 
We  know  now  that  in  the  scanty  records  of  those  early  times 
we  may  read  the  prologue  of  a  great  world  drama  whose 
final  acts  are  yet  to  come.  "It  is  the  foundation  of  an  em- 
pire, and  not  merely  the  purchase  and  plantation  of  Agawam, 
which  we  commemorate, — whether  we  will  or  not ;  and  I  do 
not  fear  we  shall  enlarge  our  contemplations  too  far,  or  ele- 
vate them  too  high,  for  the  service  to  which  we  have  devoted 
this  day."  Thus  spoke  Rufus  Choate  sixty-six  years  ago 
this  very  day  upon  a  Hke  occasion  in  the  town  of  Ipswich. 
And  so  it  is  now  and  here.  While  we  reverently  set  down 
in  minute  detail  the  individual  history  of  the  town  and  its 
people,  our  thoughts  are  irresistibly  drawn  abroad  to  the 
great  completed  whole  of  which  Topsfield  is  a  part.  True  it 
is,  that  it  is  the  foundation  of  an  empire  which  we  commem- 
orate. Nations  like  material  structures  are  built  from  below 
and  not  from  above.  If  the  foundation  stones  are  not 
strong  and  sound  the  structure,  whether  it  be  a  monument  or 
a  nation,  will  fall  in  ruins  while  it  is  still  building,  and  if  they 
become  weak  or  rotten  all  that  rests  upon  them  is  in  peril. 
It  is  to  Topsfield  then  as  one  of  the  foundation  stones  of  the 
nation  that  as  your  representative  in  her  Councils  I  bring 
her  greetings  today. 

I  do  not  speak  thus  with  the  purpose  of  magnifying  your 
history,  or  flattering  5^our  sense  of  local  pride,  but  because  in 
sober  truth  it  is  of  such  as  these  that  the  enduring  walls  of 
the  splendid  temple  of  American  liberty  were  constructed. 
It  is  of  Topsfield  as  a  type  and  not  as  an  individual  township 
that  I  like  best  to  think  and  speak ;  a  type  not  only  of  the 
sister  communities  in  this  ancient  County  and  Commonwealth, 
but  of  those  all  over  the  land  from  Maine  to  California,  where 
now  the  sons  of  your  fathers  look  out  from  their  distant  w^est- 
ern  homes  over  the  waters  of  the  Pacific  ocean.  It  is  such 
communities  as  these  which  have  developed  a  virgin  territory 
into  a  powerful  nation  within  the  span  of  three  centuries  ;  the 
romance  of  recorded  time.  The  picture  is  before  us.  The 
feeble  and  scattered  settlements  along  our  eastern  seaboard, 


TWO    HUNDRED   AND    FIFTIETH    ANNIVERSARY.  33 

where  alone  the  white  man  Hved  two  hundred  and  fifty  years 
ago  when  Topsfield  was  born,  have  grown  and  spread  and 
knitted  together  until  they  contain  more  than  seventy-five 
millions  of  people,  inhabiting  the  continent  from  ocean  to 
ocean.  Their  very  existence  unknown,  except  by  the  few  in 
the  old  world,  they  have  come  to  be  in  our  day  a  nation 
whose  slightest  wish  is  heard  with  attention  by  the  powers  of 
the  earth.  In  their  resistless  w^estward  course  across  rivers, 
mountains  and  arid  plains,  they  have  delved  into  the  bowels 
of  the  earth  and  brought  forth  her  most  precious  treasures. 
The  products  of  the  mine,  the  farm,  and  the  forest,  and  the 
fabrics  of  the  work-shop  and  the  factory,  have  brought  to  us 
as  a  nation  the  power  that  wealth  alone  can  bestow.  The 
secrets  which  Nature's  unwilling  breast  has  yielded  to  a  search 
which  would  not  be  denied  have  almost  annihilated  time  and 
space,  have  increased  the  comforts  and  multiplied  the  activi- 
ties of  life;  liberty,  security  and  respect  for  law  prevails 
throughout  our  land. 

These  things  are  not  the  result  of  mere  chance.  Men 
increase  and  multiply,  the  sun  shines,  the  rain  falls,  and  the 
crops  grow  in  other  lands  than  this.  We  must  look  elsewhere 
than  to  our  numbers  and  our  natural  resources  alone  for  the 
explanation  of  the  wonderful  phenomenon  of  our  growth  in 
power  and  happiness.  I  think  we  may  find  it  in  the  charac- 
ter of  our  forefathers  and  in  the  ideals  and  institutions  which 
they  cherished.  Let  us  see  if  we  can  discern  a  few  of  these 
institutions  and  ask  ourselves  whether  they  are  not  as  valua- 
ble today  as  ever. 

"Topsfield  shall  from  henceforth  be  a  towne  &  have 
power  within  themselves  to  order  all  civil  affaycrs  as  other 
townes  have."  Thus  reads  your  charter.  The  words  are  few 
and  simple,  but  their  significance  is  profound.  They  mean 
the  levying  of  local  taxes  by  those  who  pay  them  ;  the  estab- 
lishment of  local  laws  by  those  who  are  to  obey  them.  In 
short,  they  mean  all  the  privilege  and  burden  of  orderly  self- 
government,  of  liberty  under  the  law.  Out  of  communities 
which  were  fit  to  be  entrusted  with  such  a  burden  and  to  en- 
joy such  a  privilege  there  was  the  making  of  a  great  nation. 
To  them  in  their  turn,  as  they  rendered  an  account  of  their 
stewardship,  the  Lord  of  nations  said  ''Well  done  thou  good 


34 


THE   TOWN    OF   TOPSFIELD. 


and  faithful  servant ;  thou  hast  been  faithful  over  a  few  things, 
I  will  make  thee  ruler  over  many  thincrs." 

If  there  be  those  who  think  that  in  the  new  lands  across 
the  seas  now  under  our  flag  and  jurisdiction,  where  power 
has  always  been  exercised  from  above  and  never  from  below, 
the  completed  fabric  of  our  institutions  may  be  imposed  in  a 
day,  I  commend  to  them  the  study  of  the  development  of 
those  institutions.  Let  them  see  that  the  lesson  which  was 
learned  in  the  township  taught  us  to  construct  a  state  and  in 
turn  a  nation.  Let  them  understand  that  the  habit  of  self- 
government  is  of  slow  growth ;  that  it  begins  low  down  at 
the  very  foundations.  For  one  if  I  could  reconstruct  the 
New  England  township  in  Porto  Rico,  Cuba  and  the  Philli- 
pines,  I  should  expect  under  its  beneficent  influence  to  see 
in  God's  good  time  completed  Commonwealths  as  free  as  our 
own  and  as  independent  as  their  people  should  deliberately 
will. 

But  self-government  demands  intelligence  ;  not  the  great 
learning  of  a  few,  but  the  common  and  ordinary  education 
which  may  be  shared  by  all.  Our  fathers  forgot  not  this  and 
an  order  of  the  General  Court  made  in  1647  prescribed  that 
every  township  of  fifty  householders  should  appoint  one  with- 
in their  town  to  teach  children  to  read  and  write,  if  need  be 
at  the  public  expense. 

From  such  slight  beginnings  as  this,  and  we  may  find 
the  like  in  the  early  annals  of  all  our  States,  has  grown  the 
wonderful  system  of  public  education  which  has  fitted  our 
people  for  the  great  task  to  which  they  have  been  appointed. 
We  do  not  forget  the  lesson  in  these  days.  Cherishing  this 
institution  as  we  do  no  other,  we  are  attempting  to  bestow  it 
upon  the  millions  of  new  people,  who  for  the  time  at  least 
are  under  our  jurisdiction  and  control. 

The  school-houses  which  we  are  building  in  Porto  Rico 
and  the  Cuban  teachers  whom  we  are  entertaining  at  Cam- 
bridge, at  the  College  founded  by  the  early  care  of  the  fathers, 
attest  our  eaeer  desire  to  share  with  others  one  of  the  secrets 
of  our  own  strength. 

One  of  the  traits  which  appears  most  clearly  in  our  his- 
tory from  the  first  is  the  constant  and  intense  interest  which 
the  people  took  in  the  affairs  of  the  government  and  in  the 


TWO    HUNDRED    AND    FIFTIETH    ANNIVERSARY.  35 

conduct  of  their  public  servants.  If  there  came  a  great 
question  to  be  decided  by  Colony,  State,  or  Nation,  it  was 
no  uncommon  thing  for  the  people  to  gather  in  their  town- 
house,  discuss  it,  and  express  by  resolutions,  the  sentiments 
which  they  entertained.  The  fashion  has  passed  away  in  our 
time,  but  I  doubt  not  that  well  into  the  present  century,  the 
public  opinion  of  New  England  in  all  great  crises  of  our  his- 
tory, could  be  obtained  by  the  historian  from  the  records  of 
our  town  meetings.  That  this  particular  fashion  of  express- 
ing opinion  no  longer  exists  is  not  of  importance,  yet  if  it 
has  perished  through  lack  of  interest  in  public  affairs,  and 
lack  of  attention  to  the  conduct  of  the  public  servants,  it 
bodes  no  good  to  the  republic.  Eternal  vigilance  is  the  price 
of  liberty  and  good  government.  The  fate  of  a  Democratic 
republic  is  threatened  if  the  people  concern  themselves  no 
longer  with  its  affairs.  I  sometimes  hear  an  impatience  ex- 
pressed with  the  frequency  of  elections  and  regrets  for  the 
weight  of  the  burden  of  self-government.  It  takes  from  our 
occupation  ;  it  distracts  our  attention  from  business,  we  say. 
But  I  say  to  you  that  you  have  no  business  as  important  as 
the  duties  of  citizenship.  None  which  will  pay  you  as  well 
in  the  end.  You  have  no  right  to  be  without  opinion  upon 
public  questions.  There  is  no  greater  public  sin  than  the  sin 
of  indifference.  We  must  watch  the  conduct  of  our  public 
servants  and  be  swift  to  condemn  them  if  they  are  unfaithful, 
nor  must  we  forget  that  there  is  no  way  in  which  we  can  more 
surely  condemn  and  discourage  unfaithfulness  to  public  trust, 
than  by  applauding  and  encouraging  fidelity. 

If  time  permitted,  I  should  like  to  dwell  upon  other 
characteristics  that  our  fathers  exhibited.  Their  deep  relig- 
ious feeling;  the  "fierce  spirit  of  liberty"  which  possessed 
them ;  and  their  ardent  desire  to  establish  fixed  and  equal 
laws  suitable  to  their  condition.  The  house  of  worship,  the 
school-house,  the  town-house,  and  the  court-house.  They 
were  held  to  be  the  guards  and  defenders  of  the  State.  They 
constitute  the  most  precious  inheritance  which  we  have  re- 
ceived from  early  times.  We  cannot  in  our  time  spare  them. 
We  must  not  neglect  them.  We  must  not  be  content  to  say 
"We  are  the  salt  of  the  earth,"  for  it  is  written  "If  the  salt 
have  lost  his  savour  wherewith  shall  it  be  salted.     It  is  thence- 


36  THE   TOWN   OF   TOPSFIELD. 

forth  good  for  nothing  but  to  be  cast  out  and  to  be   trodden 
under  foot  of  man." 

Let  us  not  then  be  content  with  a  mere  recital  of  the 
events  of  the  past  which  may  satisfy  the  seeker  for  curious 
learning,  nor  with  the  commemoration  of  our  dead  which  may 
fulfill  the  duty  of  filial  piety,  nor  with  the  exhibition  of  the 
power,  prosperity,  and  happiness  of  our  county  which  may 
please  and  flatter  a  vain  pride.  Let  us  rather,  by  the  fond 
contemplation  of  the  past,  seek  to  learn  the  duties  of  the 
present  and  the  future,  and  inspired  by  the  example  of  the 
fathers,  resolve  that  the  Republic  shall  receive  no  detriment 
in  our  day,  and  that  our  inheritance  shall  be  transmitted  un- 
impaired and  enriched  to  the  generations  which  shall  dwell 
here  when  our  day  is  done. 


GEORGE    FRANCIS    DOW. 


HISTORICAL  ADDRESS. 


BY   GEORGE  FRANCIS   DOW. 


Two  hundred  and  fifty  years  ago  it  was  ordered  by  the 
General  Court  of  the  Massachusetts  Bay  in  New  England, 
"in  answer  to  the  petition  of  the  inhabitants  of  Topsfield 
*  *  *  that  from  henceforth  they  shall  be  a  town  and  have 
power  within  themselves  to  order  all  civil  affairs,  as  other 
towns  have,"  and  we,  the  successors  of  those  who  came  seek- 
ing to  build  a  Commonwealth  in  the  New  England  wilder- 
ness, are  here  met  together,  in  family  pride,  to  celebrate  the 
anniversary  of  the  birth  of  our  town,  and,  in  loving  memory 
of  its  builders,  to  recall  from  the  bygone,  yet  living  past,  the 
story  of  their  lives  and  deeds.  And,  while  turning,  leaf  by 
leaf,  the  time-worn  records  of  our  forefathers,  the  quaint  old 
letters  reveal  the  sturdy  life,  the  self  denial,  and  the  struggle 
toward  a  larger  growth.  The  strong  hands  which  for  two 
hundred  and  fifty  long  years  have  cleared  and  tilled  the  hill^''' 
side  and  the  valley,  and  the  busy  brains  which  for  eight  gen- 
erations have  put  their  life  and  thought  into  this  our  heritage, 
have  shaped  a  monument  for  generations  yet  unborn. 

The  settlers  of  this  town  were  a  plain  people,  who  won 
their  bread  by  their  industry,  yet  among  them  were  men  of 
ability  and  native  worth,  whose  descendants,  now  spread  far 
and  wide  across  the  broad  continent,  bear  witness  in  their 
lives  that  the  leaven  of  the  early  day  leaveneth  the  whole  lump. 
The  mere  mention  of  a  dozen  family  names, — Gould,  Peabody, 

(37) 


38  THE   TOWN   OF   TOPSFIELD. 

Perkins,  Bradstreet,  Tovvne,  Porter,  How,  Averill,  Cummings, 
Baker,  Wildes  or  Clark,  brings  to  recollection  the  names  of 
sons,  distinguished  in  varied  walks  in  life,  and  as  the  bene- 
diction of  an  honorable  ancestry  passes  to  the  remotest 
generation,  let  us,  the  living  present,  faithfully  preserve  the 
memory  of  the  past. 

We  here  commemorate  the  two  hundred  and  fiftieth  re- 
turn of  our  natal  day,  but  the  first  clearing  in  the  virgin  forest 
and  the  first  log  house  near  the  slowly-flowing  Agawam 
antedate  the  political  birth  of  the  settlement  b}^  a  dozen  years 
or  more.  When  John  Winthrop,  the  younger,  with  his  little 
party  of  adventurers,  landed  at  Agawam  in  the  early  spring 
of  1633,  he  laid  the  foundation  of  a  settlement,  from,  which 
the  present  town  of  Topsfield  was  the  natural  offshoot.  Two 
of  his  party  of  a  dozen  men  were  afterwards  located  at  the 
New  Meadows,  which  was  the  name  applied  by  the  settlers 
to  this  locality.  The  town  of  Ipswich  was  incorporated  in 
1634,  and  grew  rapidly  in  population  and  importance,  be- 
coming a  shire-town  in  the  county.  -  With  the  growth  of  the 
settlement  came  a  need  for  more  land.  The  greed  of  land 
possession  is  very  noticeable  in  scanning  the  early  records. 
The  territory  available  was  seemingly  without  limit  and  every- 
body hastened  to  obtain  grants  of  land,  which  varied  in  extent 
with  the  social  importance  of  the  individual.  Large  grants 
of  land  were  recorded  without  any  attempt  being  made  to 
specify  bounds  or  even  a  location,  that  being  a  matter  of 
controversy  for  committees  and  towns  to  agree  upon  at  a 
later  date.  As  the  clearing  of  the  unbroken  forest  was  an 
undertaking  requiring  time  and  the  assistance  of  many  hands, 
the  settlers  early  laid  claim  to  the  natural  clearings  near  the 
river  Agawam,  and  in  time  followed  its  banks  to  a  point  some 
seven  miles  to  the  westward  where  a  large  extent  of  meadow 
was  found  and  designated  as  the  "New  Meadows."  This 
locality  had  been  much  resorted  to  by  the  Agawam  tribe  of 
Indians,  who  called  the  spot  Shenewemedy.  On  the  plains 
lying  to  the  westward  of  the  present  village,  Indian  relics 
frequently  have  been  found,  and  at  one  place  there  seems  to 
have  been  an  Indian  camping  ground  where  a  large  number 
of  stone  implements  and  weapons  were  made, — the  ground 
being  littered  with  chippings  from  two  varieties  of  rock  ;    and 


JOHN    WINTHROP    THE    YOUNGER. 
Founder  Of  Ipswich  And  Governor  Of  Connecticut, 


TWO    HUNDRED    AND    FIFTIETH    ANNIVERSARY.  39 

near  at  hand,  on  a  conical  elevation  now  used  by  the  town 
for  a  gravel  pit,  can  be  seen,  at  the  highest  point,  some  six 
or  eight  inches  below  the  surface  of  the  ground  as  the  hill 
has  been  dug  away,  evidences  of  beacon  fires, — blackened 
soil  and  small  bits  of  charcoal, — fires  lighted  generations  be- 
fore the  advent  of  the  European,  the  ashes  buried  by  the 
flight  of  years. 

The  actual  settlement  of  the  New  Meadows  began  about 
1639,  when  the  General  Court  granted  certain  lands  lying 
near  Ipswich  river,  to  inhabitants  of  Ipswich  and  Salem  who 
had  farms  nearby,  "to  bee  enjoyed  by  those  who  first  settled 
a  village  there."  Four  years  later  it  appeared  that  the  Ipswich 
farmers  had,  since  1641,  ''maintained  one  to  dispence  the 
word  of  God  unto  them,  which  they  intend  to  continue." 

Among  the  early  settlers  were  Zaccheus  Gould,  after- 
ward a  very  large  holder  of  land  in  Topsfield  and  Rowley 
Village  (or  Boxford  as  it  afterward  was  called)  ;  the  Reding- 
tons,  Abraham  and  John  ;  Thomas  Howlett  and  William  Per- 
kins who  had  come  with  Winthrop  ;  Reverend  William  Knight 
who  "dispenced  the  word  ;"  Walter  Roper,  the  carpenter  who 
built  the  great  bridge  across  the  river ;  William  Howard, 
the  man  of  affairs;  Francis  Peabody,  the  miller  and  ancestor 
of  a  noteworthy  line  of  descendants ;  Isaac  Cummings ;  Wil- 
liam Towne,  whose  daughters,  Rebecca  Nurse  and  Mary  Esty, 
suffered  death  during  the  witchcraft  delusion ;  Allan  Perley, 
and  Alexander  Knight  who  had  a  Court  record  as  a  Her. 
Governor  John  Endecott  owned  large  tracts  of  land  lying  on 
the  south  side  of  the  river  and  Governor  Simon  Bradstreet 
was  granted  five  hundred  acres,  a  large  portion  of  which  has 
but  recently  passed  from  the  family  name,  after  a  continu- 
ous occupation  of  over  two  hundred  and  fifty  years. 

Reverend  William  Knight,  the  first  who  ministered  to 
the  spiritual  needs  of  the  inhabitants  at  the  New  Meadows, 
was  a  non-conformist  minister  who  refused  to  obey  ecclesi- 
astical injunction  and,  embarking  for  Massachusetts  Bay,  was 
received  an  inhabitant  of  Salem  in  1637.  The  next  year  he 
was  living  in  Ipswich  and  in  1641  he  began  his  labors  at  the 
New  Meadows.  The  organization  of  the  church  did  not 
occur  at  this  time,  nor  did  Mr.  Knight  long  remain  with  his 
little  flock,  for  the  tract,  "Good  News  from  New  England," 


40  THE   TOWN    OF   TOPSFIELD. 

which  was  published  in  London  in  1648,  says, — "William 
Knight  of  New  Meadows  has  gone  back  to  England." 

But  how  came  the  little  settlement  at  the  New  Meadows 
by  its  present  name?  Unfortunately,  the  men  who  make  his- 
tory seldom  preserve  for  posterity  detailed  accounts  of  their 
achievements.  The  story  of  the  christening  of  the  locality  is 
interesting,  but  the  main  fact,  alas  !  like  much  other  histori- 
cal data,  lacks  absolute  confirmation,  for  the  speeches  made 
at  the  meetings  of  the  honored  court  of  assistants,  together 
with  the  motives  governing  the  actions  of  that  magisterial 
body,  found  no  record  on  the  written  page. 

Among  the  earliest  of  those  holding  grants  of  land  in 
and  near  our  borders,  was  Samuel  Symonds,  of  Ipswich,  after- 
wards Assistant  and  Deputy  Governor.  In  1637  the  town  of 
Ipswich  granted  to  him  a  farm  of  five  hundred  acres,  having 
for  its  westerly  bounds  Pye  brook,  which  still  slowly  makes 
its  winding  way  through  meadow  and  thicket,  barely  a  five 
minutes  walk  from  the  ancient  burial  place.  This  farm  was 
long  known  on  the  records  by  the  name  of  "Olivers."  In 
1642,  John  Winthrop,  son  of  Governor  Winthrop  and  after- 
wards the  first  Colonial  governor  of  Connecticut,  while  in 
London,  sold  a  tract  of  land  lying  near  Mr.  Symonds'  farm, 
to  one  Henry  Parks,  merchant-tailor  of  London,  and  in  the 
deed,  which  is  elaborately  engrossed  upon  parchment,  he 
mentions  that  the  land  is  located  partly  in  "the  Hamlett 
Village  or  place  called  Toppesfield  in  the  parish  of  Ipswich," 
preserving  the  spelling  used  to  designate  a  small  parish  in 
Essex  County  in  Old  England.  Thus  early  does  the  name 
appear  and  yet  in  other  transfers  of  title,  and  in  various  mat- 
ters of  record  inscribed  at  Ipswich  and  Salem,  the  locality 
for  several  years  longer  was  known  as  the  New  Meadows. 

At  last,  in  1648,  the  settlement  having  grown  larger  and 
more  important,  Zaccheus  Gould, Brian  Pendleton  and  William 
Payne,  addressed  a  petition  to  the  General  Court  asking  that 
the  locality  be  given  a  name,  at  the  same  time  suggesting 
that  Hempstead  might  with  propriety  be  adopted.  Now 
Zaccheus  Gould,  a  large  land  owner,  had  come  over  seas  from 
Hemel  Hempstead,  and  in  thus  suggesting  that  the  settlement 
should  be  named  Hempstead,  he  was  endeavoring  to  trans- 
plant to  New  England  soil  the  familiar  name  of  the  old  home. 


TWO    HUNDRED   AND    FIFTIETH   ANNIVERSARY.  4 1 

The  petition  was  read  to  the  Deputies  and  found  their 
approval,  but  when  the  higher  court  of  Assistants  viewed  their 
action  it  was  unceremoniously  set  aside  and  the  petition 
returned  with  the  endorsement  that  the  settlement  should  be 
called  Toppesfield.  In  this  the  Deputies  obediently  con- 
curred and,  with  a  slight  abbreviation  in  the  spelling,  so  it 
has  remained  to  this  day. 

Samuel  Symonds  was  then  a  member  of  that  court  and 
beyond  all  doubt  he  was  responsible  for  the  change  of  name, 
being  actuated  by  the  same  fond  desire  to  perpetuate  in  the 
land  of  his  adoption,  the  name  of  the  parish  in  old  England 
where  he  had  worshipped  God  according  to  the  dictates  of 
his  conscience  and  in  whose  old  stone  church  ten  of  his 
children  had  been  baptized.  He  had  applied  the  name 
locally  some  years  before,  as  witness  the  deed  from  John 
Winthrop  in  1642.  He  was  a  prominent  man  in  the  colony, 
an  Assistant  from  1643  to  1673,  when  he  was  made  Deputy- 
Governor  and  so  remained  until  his  death  in  1678  ;  so  it  is  not 
strange  that  his  influence  should  be  a  sufficient  motive  for 
the  action  of  the  magistrates. 

Toppesfield.  England,  in  the  County  of  Essex,  is  now^a 
small  parish  of  little  over  a  thousand  souls.  It  lies  about 
fifty  miles  north-east  from  London  and  is  finally  reached  by 
narrow  roads  winding  through  a  succession  of  luxuriant  fields 
and  meadows.  Singularly  enough,  as  Topsfield,  New  England, 
is  noted,  the  country  far  and  wide,  for  its  rolling  land  and 
succession  of  hills, — indeed,  one  author  has  styled  it  "the 
Switzerland  of  Essex  County", — so  Toppesfield,  old  England, 
holds  within  its  parish  limits  the  highest  lands  in  the  shire. 
Its  church,  an  ancient  edifice  of  brick  and  rubble  stone,  is 
dedicated  to  St.  Margaret ;  the  tower,  which  was  rebuilt  in 
1725,  containing  a  chime  of  five  bells.  Numerous  memorial 
brasses  are  inserted  in  the  floor  and  about  the  walls  of  the 
interior,  one,  containing  the  figures  of  a  man  and  a  woman 
in  the  costume  of  the  sixteenth  century,  standing  in  a 
devotional  attitude,  has  the  following  inscription,  the  spelling 
of  which  to  modern  eyes,  presents  wonderful  combinations 
of  the  Roman  alphabet.  "Pray  for  the  sowlys  of  John 
Cracherood  and  Agnes  his  wyff  y*^  whiche  John  decsyd 
y"  yere  of  o""  Lord  God  MDXXXIIII   [1534]  on  whose  sowl 


42  THE   TOWN    OF   TOPSFIELD. 

Jesu  haue  mercy."  Nearly  four  centuries  ago  the  ashes  of 
this  sorrowing  countryman  of  ours  became  a  memory,  and  a 
hundred  seasons  passed  before  the  first  settler  felled  a  tree 
growing  on  the  wooded  plains  of  Topsfield. 

There  are  five  manors  in  the  ancient  parish  while 
Hedingham  Castle  is  but  four  miles  distant.  Berwick  Hall, 
which  is  near  the  Church,  in  the  days  of  King  John  paid  an 
annual  rental  of  45  pence,  49  days  work  and  10  hens,  while 
Flowers  Hall  not  far  distant  annually  figured  in  a  transaction 
outranking  Columbus'  famous  balancing  feat  with  the  egg, 
for  at  the  end  of  the  harvest  season  Edward  Benlowes,  Esq., 
of  Finchingfield,  received  his  assize  of  8  shillings,  one  cock, 
one  hen,  and  an  egg  and  a  half. 

Toppesfield  !  As  to  the  name,  antiquarians  tell  us  that 
in  good  old  Saxon  times,  the  locality  belonged  to  a  yellow- 
haired  individual  whose  name  was  Toppa, — hence  Toppes- 
field. We  do  know,  however,  that  Roman  civilization  here 
found  lodgment  at  an  early  date,  for  the  ancient  Roman  road 
between  Colchester  and  Cambridge  passed  near  at  hand  and 
more  than  all,  early  in  the  present  century,  a  laborer  digging 
a  ditch,  unearthed  the  skeleton  of  a  Roman  warrior  with  a 
corroded  sword  blade  lying  across  his  fleshless  breast ;  a 
Roman  coin ;  a  metal  vase  and  several  little  cups  of  Samian 
ware,  completed  the  sum  of  his  earthly  possessions, — nothing 
more. 

I  have  told  you  of  Zaccheus  Gould's  ill  success  with  the 
honored  magistrates.  Nearly  two  years  elapsed  after  his 
petition,  before  the  settlement  became  in  fact  a  town.  The 
entry  on  the  Colony  records,  which  I  already  have  read,  is  in 
duplicate  under  the  dates  of  October  16  and  October  18. 
And  so  it  was  that  New  Meadows  cast  aside  its  swaddling 
clothes  and  entered  into  a  new  and  enlarged  life  as  a 
municipality,  a  part  and  factor  in  the  Colony,  and,  after 
Lexington,  the  State ;  a  township  which  is  very  dear  to  us 
here  assembled,  because  it  is  beautiful,  and  we  love  it,  and  it 
is  our  home.  Her  green  hills  and  fertile  vales ;  the  winding 
river  and  the  sunlit  lake;  each  touch  of  Nature's  hand,  each 
tree,  each  rock  we  love,  and  to-day  the  scattered  sons  of 
Topsfield  in  their  distant  wanderings  have  heard  the  mother's 
call  and  hasten  to  the  old  homestead  to  keep  jubilee  together. 


GOVERNOR    SIMON    BRADSTREET. 


TWO    HUNDRED   AND    FIFTIETH   ANNIVERSARY.  43 

The  organization  of  the  first  town  government,  with  its 
"selected"  men,  its  "clarke",  its  constable,  hogreeve  and 
tithing  men,  is  irrevocably  lost,  for  the  earliest  book  of 
records  was  burned,  in  1658,  by  a  fire  that  consumed  the 
home  of  John  Redington,  the  town  clerk.  So  the  historian 
and  the  ancestor-hunter  must  content  himself  with  meagre 
extracts  made  from  the  second  book,  in  1676,  by  a  committee 
who  were  instructed  by  the  town  to  "transcribe  the  olde 
book  into  the  new  Towne  Booke  all  that  is  needful  to  bee 
don"  and,  as  the  files  of  New  England's  newspapers  until  a 
recent  day  are  filled  with  long  extracts  from  European 
prints, — lengthy  communications  on  political  affairs  and 
contain  but  little  regarding  the  local  happening  which  we 
need  to  supply  the  color  for  the  picture  of  the  period,  so, 
until  the  year  when  King  Philip  of  Mount  Hope  caused  even 
the  householders  of  Boston  to  tremble,  we  only  find  recorded 
the  bounds  between  Salem  and  Topsfield,  the  division  of  the 
common  lands  on  the  south  side  of  the  river,  an  invitation  to 
Samuel  Howlett  of  Ipswich  to  come  and  set  up  his  trade  of 
smithing,  and  a  few  items  of  similar  value. 

But  after  1676,  few  towns  or  cities  can  boast  of  municipal 
records  more  carefully  preserved,  with  entries  made  in  greater 
detail.  It  is  a  story  of  grants  of  land,  of  boundaries,  taxes, 
highways,  bridges,  provision  for  the  poor,  care  of  the  common 
lands  and  timber  and  the  careful  oversight  of  the  public 
morals.  No  matter  was  too  small,  nor  too  great,  to  merit 
watchful  consideration  by  the  town  meeting  or  the  selectmen. 
With  loving  minuteness  they  legislated  on  the  location  of 
the  meeting-house,  the  pay  of  the  minister,  the  construction 
of  the  gallery  and  the  stairs  leading  thereto,  the  location  of 
the  pulpit  and,  with  many  reconsiderations  and  changes  in 
the  personnel  of  the  committees  in  charge,  the  town  acted 
upon  that  most  important  matter,  the  seating  of  the  worshipers 
in  the  meeting  house.  Do  not  imagine  for  an  instant  that 
this  seating  of  the  congregation,  meant  the  deposit  of  so 
much  flesh  and  blood  in  an  appropriate  place.  That  would 
mean  equality  and  was  little  in  keeping  with  the  New  England 
life.  The  largest  tax  payers  and  those  of  social  position 
exacted  the  last  pound  of  flesh  when  a  question  of  precedent 
arose.     To   supplement  the  watchful   care  of  the   minister. 


44  THE   TOWN    OF   TOPSFIELD. 

tithing  men  living  in  various  parts  of  the  town  were  selected 
and  placed  in  charge  of  the  families  living  in  their  immediate 
neighborhoods,  to  catechize  and  overlook  them  in  their 
homes.  On  Sunday,  the  tithing  man's  staff,  a  knob  at  one 
end,  a  rabbit's  tail  at  the  other,  rapped  or  tickled  the  unwary 
sleeper  according  to  the  just  deserts  of  the  individual.  The 
"meeting"  was  the  centre  round  which  the  life  of  the  town 
revolved,  and  the  interval  between  the  morning  and  afternoon 
religious  service  was  the  actual  meeting  where  gossip,  both 
masculine  and  feminine,  on  topics  social,  political  and  religious, 
lighted  the  dark  shadows  of  the  rugged  life  of  our  forefathers 
and  sent  them  home,  renewed  and  fit  for  their  isolated 
struggle  with  the  soil.  Our  neighbors  from  Boxford  Village 
who  attended  meeting  in  the  Topsfield  meeting-house,  in 
1672,  petitioned  the  town  for  liberty  to  "set  up  a  house  to 
shelter  themselves  in  with  a  fire  in  it", — a  shrine  to  physical 
comfort  and  the  social  life. 

The  early  records  are  not  lacking  in  quaintness.  When 
John  Robinson,  in  consideration  of  the  sum  of  twenty-five 
shillings  per  annum,  agreed  to  sweep  the  meeting-house  and 
fasten  the  doors,  as  a  perquisite  he  was  appointed  to  dig 
graves  "for  such  as  shall  Requir  him  and  to  have  three 
shillins  six  penc  for  al  graues  abou  four  foot  long  and  two 
and  six  penc  for  al  under."  A  sexton  indeed  in  every  sense 
of  the  word. 

In  the  spring  of  1682,  the  town  held  its  usual  town 
meeting  and  after  electing  its  "selectmen",  it  passed  a  vote 
outlining  in  part  what  was  expected  of  them,  namely, — "that 
ye  selectmen  shall  repair  all  breaches  about  ye  meeting 
house  &  parsonig  house  and  barn  &  to  make  seates  in 
ye  meeting  house  &  mend  the  wach  house  and  all  other 
prudenciall  afares  of  ye  Towne  all  at  ye  Towne  charge 
prohibbiting  the  selectmen  from  aliniting  any  of  ye  Towne 
Common,"  carefully  guarding,  you  will  note,  their  landed 
rights. 

A  year  or  two  later  a  vote  was  passed  accepting  and 
allowing  constable  Comings'  bill  of  charges  for  conveying 
Evan  Morris  out  of  town  and  for  "forwarneing  two  women 
out  of  the  Towne,"  the  usual  method  of  relieving  the  locality 
of  destitute  or  undesirable   inhabitants.     This  Evan  Morris 


GOVERNOR    JOHN    ENDECOTT, 
Frotri  the   Original    Painting    iq  the    Possessioq  of  Wiiliani   C.    Endicott, 


TWO    HUNDRED   AND    FIFTIETH   ANNIVERSARY.  45 

must  have  been  a  fire  brand  and  an  uncomfortable  fellow  to 
have  around,  for  the  Quarterly  Court  records  show  that 
while  he  was  living  in  Topsfield  he  was  presented  at  court 
for  "reviling  in  reproachful  language  the  ordinances  of  God 
and  such  as  are  in  church  fellowship,  saying  when  some  were 
together  keeping  a  day  of  Humiliation  that  they  were  howling 
like  wolves  and  lifting  up  their  paws  for  their  Children  saying 
the  gallows  were  built  for  members  and  members'  children 
and  if  there  had  been  no  members  of  churches  there  would 
have  been  no  need  of  gallows."  In  1687,  the  head  of  a  wolf 
was  worth  ten  shillings  of  the  town's  money  and  the  same 
year  liberty  was  voted  to  any  person  to  plant  tobacco  on  the 
common  ground,  provided  he  did  not  intrude  in  any  highway. 

That  the  dignity  and  morality  of  the  town  was  sometimes 
considered  at  stake,  is  witnessed  by  a  vote  recorded  in  the 
year  1693,  when  the  selectmen  were  instructed  to  complain 
at  court  of  Goodwife  Neland,  for  "slandering  the  wholl 
Towne  of  Topsfield."  Goodwife  Neland  was  the  eloquent 
partner  in  the  joys  and  sorrows  of  an  obstinate  Irishman  who 
had  built  a  house  directly  over  the  boundary  line  that 
separated  Topsfield  from  Ipswich.  Whenever  the  constable 
from  Topsfield  called  on  him  for  the  minister's  rate,  he  was 
sure  to  be  found  in  the  Ipswich  side  of  his  house.  Finally 
after  many  fruitless  attempts  to  collect  the  tax,  forbearance 
ceased  to  be  a  virtue,  and  taking  with  him  several  sturdy 
fellows.  Constable  Wildes  presented  himself  at  the  pig  pen  of 
the  wily  Irishman,  with  black  staff  of  office  in  hand,  and 
distrained  and  carried  away  a  fat  porker,  which  cashed  in 
full  the  unsettled  balance  in  Parson  Capen's  salary  rate. 
This  event  happened  shortly  before  the  town  proceeded  in 
its  action  against  Goodwife  Neland  and  indicates  the  probable 
animus  for  that  good  lady's  scolding  remarks  concerning  the 
fair  name  of  Topsfield. 

The  annals  of  a  New  England  town  must  begin  with  its 
church,  which  was  in  fact  the  body  politic,  having  an 
influence  in  the  affairs  of  the  community  that  can  hardly  be 
estimated  at  the  present  time.  The  support  of  the  minister 
was  a  regular  item  of  civic  expense  and  he  was  chosen  in 
open  town  meeting.  When  the  log-house  had  given  shelter, 
and  the  home  field  and  common   land   had   furnished  suste- 


46  THE   TOWN   OF   TOPSFIELD. 

nance,  then  the  community  began  to  estimate  its  financial 
strength  and  shortly  the  meeting-house  was  built  and  the 
minister  settled. 

Reverend  William  Knight  who  *'dispenced  the  word" 
having  returned  to  England,  the  settlement  seems  to  have 
been  without  regular  preaching  until  1655  when  Reverend 
William  Perkins  came  from  Gloucester,  and  buying  a  farm, 
cast  his  lot  with  the  Topsfield  farmers.  He  seems  to  have  been 
a  man  of  many  parts  and  quite  a  figure  in  the  colony.  The 
son  of  a  merchant  tailor  in  London,  he  contributed  £  50  to 
the  Massachusetts  Bay  Company  and  received  a  grant  of  400 
acres  of  land.  Until  1643  he  lived  in  Roxbury  and  then 
removed  to  Weymouth  where  he  was  elected  representative 
to  the  General  Court.  He  also  commanded  a  military 
company  and  was  a  member  of  the  Ancient  and  Honorable 
Artillery  Company  in  Boston.  In  i65i,he  appears  in 
Gloucester,  as  a  spiritual  adviser  to  the  people  and  in  this 
profession  he  seems  to  have  passed  many  troublesome 
moments,  for  on  several  occasions  his  grievances  were  aired  in 
the  County  Courts.  The  testimony  in  one  case  is  interesting, 
for,  after  making  due  allowance  for  personal  bias,  we  have  a 
picture  of  his  pulpit  success.  Mrs.  Holgrave  of  Gloucester 
was  presented  at  Court  the  fourth  month  of  1652  for 
reproachful  and  unbecoming  speech  against  Mr.  William 
Perkins  an  of^cer  of  the  church,  witnesses  testifying,  that  she 
had  said,  "that  if  it  were  not  for  the  law  she  would  never 
come  to  meeting  the  teacher  was  so  dead  and  accordingly 
she  did  seldom  come  and  with  all  persuaded  Goodwife 
Vincent  to  come  to  her  house  on  the  Sabbath  day  and  read 
good  books,  affirming  that  the  Teacher  were  fitter  to  be  a 
Lady's  shamberman  than  to  be  in  the  pulpit." 

Mr.  Perkins  finally  brought  suit  against  the  town  of 
Gloucester  in  an  effort  to  collect  his  salary,  and  early  in  1655 
came  to  Topsfield  where  he  preached  to  the  neighborhood 
until  the  gathering  of  a  church  in  1663.  A  fragment  of  an 
autobiographical  sketch  states  that  he  was  absent  in  England 
in  1670  and  again  two  years  later.  While  writing  of  the 
marriage  of  Katharine,  his  second  daughter,  he  relates  with 
much  enthusiasm,  that  "she  was  the  first  which  the  mercifull 
Providence  of  God  gave  me  opportunity  to  be  disposed  of 


TWO    HUNDRED    AND    FIFTIETH    ANNIVERSARY.  47 

He  died  in  1682,  aged  75  years,  leaving  a 
numerous  posterity. 

The  actual  organization  of  a  church  and  settlement  of  a 
minister  did  not  take  place  until  November  4,  1663,  when 
the  Roxbury  church  records  have  the  following  entry, — "A 
church  is  gathered  at  Topsfield  with  Mr.  Thomas  Gilbert 
over  it."  The  records  of  the  church  at  Salem  also  show 
that  the  people  at  Topsfield  sent  letters  "signifying  their 
intention  of  joining  in  church  fellowship,"  and  Reverend  John 
Higginson  and  John  Porter,  the  latter  of  Salem  Village,  were 
delegated  to  represent  the  Salem  church.  On  their  return 
*'an  account  was  given  to  the  church  by  the  Pastor,  that  for 
the  substance  their  proceedings  at  Topsfield  in  the  church 
gathering  and  ordination  there  was  approved  of  by  the 
messengers  of  the  Churches  then  present." 

Thomas  Gilbert,  the  newly  settled  pastor,  was  a  non- 
conformist minister  who  had  been  ejected  from  his  living  by 
King  Charles  II.  of  merry  memory.  He  is  supposed  to  have 
been  a  Scotchman,  and  proving  to  be  a  man  of  strong 
opinions  and  much  given  to  the  expression  of  his  convictions, 
it  is  not  a  matter  of  wonder  that  he  should  early  become  the 
victim  of  his  non-conformist  views.  Under  date  of  1661, 
the  committee  of  the  colonies  wrote  that  he  had  **met  with 
suitable  employment  at  Rowley."  He  also  appears  at  Salis- 
bury for  a  short  time,  but  in  1663  he  found  at  Topsfield  his 
first  and  only  settlement  in  the  Colony. 

Mr.  Gilbert  has  left  no  register  of  his  labors  in  Topsfield, 
and  as  his  temper  on  leaving  the  town  could  not  have  been 
of  a  meek  and  lowly  nature,  perhaps  he  preferred  to  destroy 
or  carry  away  his  story  of  infants  baptized,  of  church 
meetings  held  during  his  ministry  and  of  dead  laid  at  rest  in 
the  little  burial  ground.  Be  that  as  it  may,  no  manuscript 
remains  and  our  church  records  begin  with  Parson  Capen's 
hand  in  1684. 

No  doubt  at  first  the  relations  between  pastor  and  people 
were  all  that  could  be  desired.  Each  felt  the  honor  and  the 
responsibility  of  the  organization  round  which  the  town 
centred,  and  Mr.  Gilbert  was  probably  looked  upon  as  a 
leader;  but  a  man  of  his  temperament  could  not  live  beside 
Reverend  William  Perkins  without  differences  arising,  perhaps 


48  THE   TOWN   OF   TOPSFIELD. 

of  theology,  perhaps  of  politics,  so  in  1666  we  find  Mr. 
Perkins  making  complaint  in  the  County  Court  against  Mr. 
Gilbert  for  sedition,  "that  in  his  prayers  and  sermons  he 
made  scandalous  speeches  against  the  King's  majesty  and 
his  government,"  for  which,  to  my  mind,  he  had  ample 
ground,  for  had  he  not  been  ignominiously  removed  from  his 
comfortable  living  and  been  compelled  to  seek  a  new  home 
in  the  wilds  of  Massachusetts  Bay?  One  of  the  deacons  of 
the  church  testified  that  the  minister  had  prayed  that  "God 
would  convert  the  King's  majesty  and  the  royal  family  or 
turn  them  from  superstition  and  idolitry"  and  it  was  said 
that  on  another  occasion  he  used  these  words,  "that  Christ 
Jesus  should  reign  in  despite  of  all  the  devil's  Kings,  doe 
what  they  can."  The  evidence  was  too  strong  for  Mr.  Gilbert 
and  the  Court  ordered  that  he  be  admonished  by  the 
Governor  in  their  presence.  But  the  majesty  of  the  law  and 
the  power  of  the  magistrates  could  not  bridle  the  minister's 
tongue  and  he  could  not  forget  the  active  and  successful 
interest  of  Mr.  Perkins  in  his  affairs,  so  the  following  year 
we  find  that  gentleman  bringing  suit  against  Mr.  Gilbert  for 
defamation  of  character. 

But  if  the  reverend  gentleman  twitted  his  brother  by 
relating  divers  facts  and  personal  fancies,  he  in  turn  soon 
gave  occasion  for  his  people  to  question  the  self-denial  of 
their  spiritual  adviser  when  the  wine  was  of  good  age  and 
flavor,  for  it  was  not  long  before  he  was  brought  into  court 
charged  with  intemperance.  It  was  shown  that  one  afternoon 
the  previous  summer,  it  being  sacrament  day,  the  people 
waited  long  for  their  minister,  some  even  going  home,  and 
when  he  came  at  last  and  began  to  pray,  all  saw  that  he  was 
distempered  in  his  head,  for  he  repeated  many  things  over 
and  lisped  badly  and  when  he  had  done,  he  commenced  to 
sing  and  then  read  a  psalm  so  that  it  could  not  be  well 
understood  and  then  went  to  praying  again  and  was  about 
following  it  with  another  hymn  when  Isaac  Cummings  arose 
in  his  seat  and  desired  him  to  forbear.  All  testified  that  he 
then  became  very  angry  and  said  "I  bless  God  I  find  a  good 
deal  of  comfort  in  it,"  and  came  down  from  the  pulpit  and 
said  to  the  people,  "I  give  notice  that  I  will  preach  among 
you  no  more."     It  finally  appeared  that  the  prime  source  of 


TWO    HUNDRED    AND    FIFTIETH   ANNIVERSARY.  49 

the  trouble  was  the  excellent  dinner  he  had  enjoyed  that 
day,  several  of  his  flock  having  gone  home  with  him  from 
the  morning  service,  for  the  golden  cup  was  brought  out  and 
filled  with  wine,  and  Mr.  Gilbert  drank  twice,  deeply,  and  on 
being  reminded  by  his  wife  of  his  neglect  to  return  thanks, 
said,  '*I  forgot",  and  then  did  return  thanks  and  sing  a  psalm, 
"clipping  of  the  King's  English  and  lisping." 

Poor  Mr.  Gilbert !  Had  he  owned  a  spirit  more  gentle 
and  tongue  less  unruly,  his  lapse  at  the  wine  cup  would 
possibly  have  been  thought  less  of  and  his  stay  in  Topsfield 
prolonged.  Cider,  beer  and  wine  were  used  freely  by  all, 
and  many  a  will  probated  at  Salem  Court  bears  silent 
testimony  to  the  loving  forethought  of  the  deceased  husband, 
who  provided  that  the  widow  should  annually  receive  from 
his  estate,  a  certain  number  of  gallons  of  rum  or  barrels  of 
cider,  in  addition  to  one-half  of  the  old  homestead  from 
cellar  to  ridgepole ;  cords  of  firewood  ready  for  the  fire- 
place ;  a  cow,  the  use  of  a  horse  to  ride  to  meeting, — beef, 
pork,  Indian  corn,  malt,  flax,  and  many  other  necessities  too 
numerous  to  mention.  As  late  as  1 761,  David  Cummings  of 
this  town,  provided  by  will,  that  the  estate  should  annually 
supply  his  widow  Sarah  with  five  barrels  of  cider.  At  the 
raising  of  the  frame  of  the  new  church  which  was  built  in 
1759,  the  town  voted  to  buy  a  barrel  of  rum,  fifty  pounds  of 
sugar,  and  twelve  barrels  of  cider,  with  which  to  regale  the 
thirsty  volunteers,  and  the  item  in  the  bill  of  charges,  *'mugs 
broack",  would  seem  to  show  that  conviviality  prevailed 
among  some  of  those  who  were  present. 

But  to  return  to  Mr.  Gilbert, — In  his  case,  it  was  the 
dignity  of  the  pulpit  which  he  should  have  preserved  and  the 
notice  of  departure  spoken  in  heat  was  well  received  by  his 
people,  for  in  1671  he  was  dismissed  from  the  charge. 

Mr.  Gilbert  was  soon  followed  by  Reverend  Jeremiah 
Hobart,  a  Harvard  graduate  and  a  son  of  Reverend  Peter 
Hobart  of  Hingham.  During  his  ministry  occurred  the 
direful  Indian  war,  King  Philip's.  The  terrible  reverses 
which  occurred  during  the  summer  of  1675,  caused  the 
colonists  to  take  a  gloomy  view  of  the  situation,  and  spurred 
by  fear  of  possible  raids  by  Indians  from  the  eastward,  the 
selectmen  ordered  a  stone  wall  to  be  built  around  the  meeting- 


50  THE   TOWN    OF   TOPSFIELD. 

house.  It  was  six  feet  high  and  had  a  watch  tower  ten  feet 
square  built  at  the  south-eastern  corner.  The  construction 
was  undertaken  voluntarily  by  those  who  worshipped  in  the 
meeting-house  and  included  many  from  Rowley  Village  now 
Boxford,  and  others  from  Linebrook  lying  on  the  boundary 
line  in  Ipswich.  Of  a  similar  defence  at  that  period,  I  have 
failed  to  find  a  record  in  eastern  Massachusetts.  For  years 
it  stood  watch  and  ward  over  the  safety  of  the  Topsfield 
farmers.  Meanwhile,  Mr.  Hobart  was  making  enemies  among 
his  congregation.  He  was  accused  of  immoralities  and  the 
town  withheld  his  salary.  Finally  the  minister  brought  the 
matter  before  the  County  Court  and  the  town  was  ordered 
to  pay  all  arrearages  and  also  to  put  the  ministry  house,  out- 
houses and  fences  into  suflficient  repair.  This  was  in  1679. 
Matters  dragged  along  until  the  next  year  when  he  was 
dismissed,  but,  while  waiting  for  another  settlement,  he 
continued  to  occupy  the  parsonage,  and  as  possession  is  nine 
points  of  the  law,  the  town  failed  to  oust  him.  In  December 
168 1,  the  town  appointed  a  committee  to  go  to  Mr.  Hobart 
and  demand  the  keys  of  the  parsonage  house,  but  nothing 
was  thereb}'  accomplished  for  it  was  six  months  later  when 
Mr.  Hobart  signed  a  receipt  for  the  remainder  of  his  salary, 
whereby  he  discharged  the  indebtedness  of  the  town  to  him 
*'since  the  beginning  of  the  world."  He  finally  found  a 
distant  settlement  at  Hempstead,  Long  Island,  a  little  later 
removing  to  Haddam,  Connecticut,  where  in  his  72nd  year, 
in  a  petition  to  the  Governor,  he  styled  himself  "an  ancient, 
dejected  and  despised  minister."  November  6,  171 5,  it  being 
the  Lord's  Day,  he  attended  public  worship  in  the  forenoon 
and  received  the  sacrament  and  during  the  intermission, 
expired,  while  sitting  in  his  chair. 

Reverend  Joseph  Capen,  "that  revered  man",  came  to 
the  town  of  Topsfield  as  its  minister  in  1682,  Reverend  John 
Danforth,  a  young  preacher  of  Dorchester  and  Daniel  Epps 
the  famous  Salem  schoolmaster,  having  previously  declined 
the  honor  of  a  settlement.  We  learn  from  the  town  records 
that  Thomas  Perkins  jr.,  and  Joseph  Bixby  jr.,  were  chosen 
to  go  to  Cambridge  to  pilot  Mr.  Capen  to  Lieutenant  Francis 
Peabody's  house  in  Topsfield  and  next  we  find  that  a  committee 
was  appointed  "to  discourse    with    Mr.   Capen    to    stay    and 


PINE    GROVE    CEMETERY. 
GRAVESTONES    OF    "PARSON"    CAPEN    AND    HIS    WIFE. 


TWO    HUNDRED   AND   FIFTIETH    ANNIVERSARY.  5 1 

preach  awhile;"  and  a  few  weeks  later  three  trustworthy 
citizens  were  chosen  to  accompany  him  to  Dorchester  **when 
he  goes  to  visit  his  friends  and  to  bring  him  again  if  they 
can  with  his  friends'  consent,  to  continue  with  us  in  the 
ministry."  The  committee  held  him  securely  in  their  keeping 
and  in  time  a  settlement  was  effected  at  £  65  yearly,  partly 
in  silver  and  partly  in  current  pay,  namely: — corn,  pork, 
beef,  rye  and  malt.  Mr.  Capen  was  but  twenty-three  years 
of  age  when  he  came  to  Topsfield.  Not  long  after,  he 
married  Priscilla,  daughter  of  John  Appleton,  of  Ipswich, 
and  some  time  after  May  24,  1686,  he  erected  on  the 
twelve  acre  lot  granted  him  by  the  town,  the  two-story  house 
which  still  stands  near  the  Common, — a  joy  to  the  eye  of  the 
artist  and  a  most  picturesque  relic  of  the  past. 

For  forty-two  long  years  ''Parson"  Capen  preached 
acceptably,  a  faithful  and  loved  pastor  and  a  shining  contrast 
to  his  predecessors.  In  1703  the  old  meeting-house  in  the 
cemetery  was  abandoned  and  a  new  one  built  on  the  present 
location,  an  elevation  having  been  leveled  for  the  purpose. 
This  building  was  torn  down  in  1759  and  a  new  meeting- 
house built,  which  in  turn,  in  1842,  gave  way  to  the  present 
structure.  The  building  which  was  raised  in  1759  was 
removed  in  1842  to  Salem,  near  the  Peabody  line,  and  is  still 
standing  and  in  use  as  a  tannery. 

Mr.  Capen  died  in  1725  and  all  that  was  mortal  was 
buried  on  the  spot  where  long  years  before  his  pulpit  had 
stood,  and  at  the  head  of  the  mound  was  erected  an 
elaborately  carved  stone  recording  this  summum  of  his 
life:— 

DEAR   MR.    CAPEN,   THAT   REVERED    MAN 
V^HO    DID   THE    FAITH    OF   CHRIST   MAINTAIN 
A   LEARNED    MAN   AND    GODLY   TOO 
NONE   WILL   DENY   THIS,    WHO    HIM    KNEW. 

During  Mr.  Capen's  ministry  occurred  the  terrible 
delusion  of  witchcraft.  The  nearness  of  Topsfield  to  Salem 
Village, — Danvers,  the  home  of  the  accusing  girls  and 
especially  the  question  of  disputed  boundswherein  the  Putnam 
and  Towne  families  were  concerned  and  which  had  caused 
much  ill-feeling,  made  it  impossible    that    this  town    should 


52 


THE  TOWN    OF  TOPSFIELD. 


escape.  Rebecca  Nurse  of  Salem  Village,  and  Mary  Esty  of 
Topsfield,  daughters  of  William  Towne  and  highly  respected 
by  their  neighbors,  were  carried  to  an  ignominious  death. 
Mary  Esty  has  been  called  "the  self  forgetful,"  because  in  a 
petition  to  Governor  Phips,  written  while  in  prison,  she  asked 
not  for  her  own  life  but  that  other  innocent  blood  might  not 
be  shed.  Sarah  Wildes,  the  aged  wife  of  John  Wildes,  was 
also  executed  and  several  others  were  accused,  only  escaping 
as  reason  dawned  on  the  frenzied  community. 

Mr.  Capen's  successor  was  Reverend  John  Emerson,  a 
native  of  Charlestown,  Mass.,  who  preached  until  shortly 
before  the  outbreak  of  the  Revolution,  serving  "God  faithfully 
in  the  gospel  of  his  Son  upwards  of  forty-five  years."  His 
descendants  have  been  prominent  in  town  affairs  and  a  grand- 
son, Billy  Emerson,  was  the  greatest  general  trader  that 
Essex  County  ever  had,  owning  a  large  amount  of  live  stock 
and  real  estate,  and  when  journeying  to  Canada,  as  he 
frequently  did,  it  is  said  that  he  could  stop  in  his  own  tavern 
each  night  on  the  journey. 

Reverend  Daniel  Breck,  who  had  been  a  Chaplain  in 
the  Revolutionary  Army,  was  settled  over  the  church  in  1779. 
He  was  a  man  of  fair  talents  who  endeavored  to  introduce 
reforms  into  the  church  discipline,  which  awakened  such 
opposition  that  he  was  dismissed  after  nine  years  of  service. 
At  the  time  of  the  Bi-centennial  Celebration  in  1850,  a  con- 
gratulatory letter  from  his  son,  then  a  congressman  from 
Kentucky,  was  read  at  the  after-dinner  exercises. 

Reverend  Asahel  Huntington  came  to  the  church  from 
Connecticut,  and  in  1813,  death  closed  his  useful  and  honor- 
able career.  His  son  Elisha  Huntington,  M.  D.,  was  the 
first  mayor  of  Lowell,  and  Lieutenant-Governor  of  Massa- 
chusetts. Another  son,  Asahel  Huntington,  was  a  bright 
light  in  the  legal  fraternity  and  eighth  mayor  of  Salem, 

In  1817,  a  bell,  the  first  in  town,  was  purchased  at  Paul 
Revere's  foundry,  and  the  town  voted  that  it  "be  rung  on  all 
public  days  and  tolled  for  funerals." 

Reverend  Rodney  Gove  Dennis  of  New  Boston,  N.  H., 
was  the  next  settled  minister  who,  after  a  stay  of  seven  years, 
asked  for  a  dismission,  urging  that  his  success  in  the  church 
did  not  justify  his  continuance  here.     He   was  followed  by 


THE    DR,    RICHARD    DEXTER    HOUSE, 
Erected  about  1750,  now  the  property  of  the  Essex  Agricultural  Society, 

THE    DUDLEY    BRADSTREET   HOUSE, 
Erected  m  i77i,  now  remodeled  and  owned  bu  Thomas  E.  Proctor. 


TWO    HUNDRED   AND    FIFTIETH    ANNIVERSARY.  53 

Reverend  James  F.  McEwen  who  labored  with  the  Topsfield 
church  for  the  space  of  ten  years,  and  was  dismissed  in  1840, 
a  **root  of  bitterness,"  as  the  church  records  style  it,  having 
sprung  up  between  pastor  and  people.  Almost  at  the  begin- 
ning of  his  ministry  a  Methodist  Episcopal  church  was 
organized  in  town.  Its  first  house  of  worship  w^as  built  on 
the  Newburyport  turnpike,  near  Springville.  The  present 
church  was  erected  in  1853  and  dedicated  the  following 
year.  I  lack  opportunity  to  enumerate  at  this  time  the 
various  ministers  who  have  been  stationed  over  the  Methodist 
church, — suffice  it  to  say  that  a  number  have  placed  their 
impress  on  the  educational  life  of  the  town,  both  in  the 
Topsfield  Academy  and  in  the  district  school. 

Reverend  Anson  McLoud,  a  native  of  Hartford,  Conn., 
followed  Mr.  McEwen.  It  was  his  first  pastorate  and  for 
twenty-eight  years  he  labored  faithfully.  For  a  number  of 
years  after  his  connection  with  the  church  was  dissolved,  he 
continued  to  reside  here  and  until  the  day  of  his  death  he 
had  the  respect  and  affection  of  the  town.  He  was  greatly 
interested  in  educational  matters  and,  with  Sidney  Merriam, 
was  instrumental  in  founding  the  Public  Library  in  1875.  He 
represented  the  town  at  the  Great  and  General  Court  in  1871. 

Reverend  Edward  P.  Tenney,  at  one  time  President  of 
Colorado  College  and  author  of  numerous  works,  was  installed 
in  1869  but  resigned  after  a  few  months  service.  He  was 
followed  by  Reverend  James  H.  Fitts,  now  of  Newfields,  N. 
H. ;  Reverend  Lyndon  S.  Crawford,  for  many  years  a  mis- 
sionary in  Turkey;  Reverend  Charles  W.  Luck,  now  of 
Ogden,  Utah ;  Reverend  Albert  E.  Bradstreet,  who  is  now 
living  in  California ;  Reverend  Francis  A.  Poole,  recently 
settled  over  a  church  in  East  Weymouth,  Mass.,  and  the 
present  pastor.  Reverend  Herbert  J.  Wyckoff. 

Few  changes  have  taken  place  in  the  religious  life  of  the 
town  during  the  past  fifty  years.  The  church  bells  call  to 
worship  children  of  the  same  name  and  blood  as  those  who 
walked  the  aisles  a  half  century  ago.  The  foot  stoves  and 
the  bass  viol  have  long  since  been  banished,  but  the  work, 
worship  and  belief  of  our  buried  sires  still  have  an  influence 
on  religious  thought  and  action. 

That  this  town  has  marked  its  educational  impress  on  the 


THE   TOPSFIELD   ACADEMY. 


THE   ACADEMY    BUILDING,    no;/  the  CENTRE   SCHOOL-HOUSE. 
THE    RAILROAD   STATION  and  residence  of   MRS.    MARY   S.    KIMBALL 


TWO    HUNDRED   AND    FIFTIETH    ANNIVERSARY.  55 

community  at  large  is  well  known.  The  prominent  position 
held  at  one  time  by  the  Topsfield  Academy  cannot  be 
forgotten  nor  can  we  estimate  the  services  of  such  men  as 
Professor  Nehemiah  Cleaveland,  for  twenty  years  principal 
of  Dummer  Academy ;  Reverend  David  Peabody,  professor 
at  Dartmouth  College ;  Professor  Albert  Cornelius  Perkins, 
for  many  years  principal  of  Phillips  Exeter  Academy,  nor 
Professor  John  Wright  Perkins  of  Salem,  formerly  of  Dum- 
mer Academy,  who  is  with  us  to-day.  The  earliest  reference 
to  the  subject  of  education  to  be  found  in  the  town  records 
is  in  1694,  when  the  town  voted  that  "Goodman  Louewell 
School  Master  shall  Hue  in  ye  Parsonage  house  this  yeare 
ensewing  to  kepe  Schole  and  swepe  ye  meeting  house." 
The  district  school  was  of  course  the  medium  for  instruction 
and  continued  so  until  1867,  when  the  town  purchased  the 
Academy  building  and  installed  the  village  schools.  The 
"Centre"  school  house  on  Academy  hill  to-day  contains  the 
High  School,  and  in  the  same  building  are  centralized  the 
schools  of  the  town,  graded  and  efficiently  maintained.  The 
Topsfield  Academy  famous  for  its  preceptors  and  the  high 
standard  of  scholarship  there  maintained,  turned  out  many 
scholars  who  have  become  distinguished,  and  many  a  man 
and  woman  has  made  the  world  better  for  the  instruction 
there  received.  Among  the  more  famous  preceptors  were 
Benjamin  Greenleaf,  the  well  known  mathematician;  Edwin 
D.  Sanborn,  for  many  years  professor  at  Dartmouth  College ; 
Asa  Fowler,  justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  New  Hampshire 
and  a  law  partner  of  President  Peirce  and  later  of  Senator 
Chandler;  Reverend  Edmund  F.  Slafter,  and  many  other 
men  of  mark  in  the  various  professions. 

Patriotism  early  found  a  home  in  this  ancient  town.  In 
every  war,  from  the  swamp  fight  at  Narragansett  to  the 
recent  conflict  with  the  yellow  flag  of  Spain,  she  has  borne 
her  part. 

When  King  Charles  H.  demanded  the  surrender  of  the 
charter  of  the  colony  the  town  voted  "Wee  doe  hereby 
declare  y*  wee  are  vtterly  vnwilling  to  yeeld  ether  to  a  Rasig- 
nation  of  the  Charter  or  to  any  thing  y*  shall  be  equeualent 
there  Vnto  Where  by  ye  foundations  there  of  should  be 
raced."     It  was  Lieutenant  John  Gould  of  this  town  who  was 


56  THE   TOWN   OF  TOPSFIELD. 

among  the  first  of  those  who  openly  protested  at  this  usurpa- 
tion of  the  rights  of  the  colony  and  because  of  his  brave 
words  was  taken  to  His  Majesty's  jail  in  Boston  and  after- 
wards fined.  Six  years  later,  shortly  after  Governor  Andros 
had  been  deposed  from  power,  Lieutenant  Thomas  Baker 
was  elected  to  represent  the  town  and  instructed  "To  act  for 
the  publick  good  and  welfare  and  safety  of  This  Colony, 
prohibbiting  any  act  or  thing  that  may  have  any  tendency 
to  the  infringement  of  any  of  our  charter  priulidges  what  so 
ever." 

I  have  alluded  to  the  stone  wall  about  the  meeting- 
house;  in  1706  it  was  called  the  "old  meeting  house  fort." 
At  an  early  date  a  garrison  house  was  built  on  what  is  now 
the  Agricultural  Farm  and  a  military  company  was  a  recog- 
nized institution  in  the  town  until  the  middle  of  the  present 
century,  the Topsfield  Warren  Blues,  anindependentcompany, 
being  the  last  local  organization. 

Topsfield  soldiers  were  at  Port  Royal  in  1707,  and  a  few 
years  later  a  number  of  our  men,  together  with  hundreds  of 
other  brave  New  Englanders,  found  a  resting  place  beneath 
the  dark  greensward  on  Point  Rochfort,  near  "the  Dunkirk 
of  America."  "No  monument  marks  the  sacred  spot,  but 
the  waves  of  the  restless  ocean,  in  calm  or  storm,  sing  an 
everlasting  requiem  over  the  graves  of  the  departed  heroes." 
The  removal  of  the  French  Acadians  brought  into  town 
Michael  Dugoy  and  family,  who  lived  in  the  house  formerly 
occupied  by  William  Towne  whose  daughters  were  hung  for 
witchcraft.  The  old  house  stood  near  the  highway,  a  few 
rods  south  of  the  home  of  Mrs.  C.  J.  P.  Floyd.  In  1770, 
the  town  was  drinking  "liberty  tea,"  and  the  same  year  in 
town-meeting  assembled,  a  vote  was  passed  to  encourage  and 
promote  home  manufactures,  thus  showing  anticipation  of 
the  approaching  conflict,  and  when  the  storm  cloud  broke 
two  companies  of  minute-men,  numbering  one  hundred  and 
ten  men,  marched  to  the  "Concord  fight."  At  Bunker  Hill, 
Bennington  and  Ticonderoga,  sons  of  Topsfield  fought  for 
that  independence  which  is  our  right.  Over  three  hundred 
men  were  enlisted  from  this  town  during  the  Revolutionary 
War,  the  population  at  no  time  being  greater  than  eight  hun- 
dred souls. 


TWO    HUNDRED   AND    FIFTIETH    ANNIVERSARY.  57 

The  war  of  18 12,  and  the  conflict  with  Mexico,  found 
few  supporters  among  our  townsfolk,  but  the  cannon-shot 
fired  at  Fort  Sumter,  aroused  a  patriotic  fervor  that  sent 
our  boys  to  many  a  southern  battle  field.  At  Fredericksburg 
and  Bull  Run ;  at  Antietam  and  the  Wilderness,  in  many  a 
bloody  conflict,  our  "boys  in  blue"  fought  bravely  for  the 
right  and  for  native  land.  Andersonville  claimed  its  victims 
and  men  still  move  about  our  streets  carrying  with  them  the 
taint  of  the  southern  clime  or  the  bullet  of  a  fratricidal  foe. 
Twenty-two  gave  up  their  lives  while  in  the  service,  but  their 
patriotism  and  sacrifice  can  never  die.  The  veteran  soldier 
is  daily  a  reminder  to  us  of  a  later  generation,  that  he  fought 
not  in  vain,  "and  that  government  of  the  people,  by  the 
people  and  for  the  people  shall  not  perish  forever  from  the 
earth."  His  work,  well  done,  speaks  not  only  for  to-day  but 
for  all  time.  During  the  Rebellion  Topsfield  furnished  more 
than  one  tenth  of  its  population  or  one  hundred  and  thirteen 
soldiers,  a  surplus  of  six  over  all  demands,  while  fifteen 
men  were  sent  into  the  navy,  and  six,  who  claimed  a  birth- 
right in  our  town,  enlisted  on  the  quotas  of  adjoining  cities 
and  towns. 

I  know  that  I  should  speak  to-day  of  the  sons  and 
daughters  of  Topsfield  who  have  risen  above  their  surround- 
ings, and  though  not  all  are  pillared  in  the  Temple  of  Fame, 
yet  to  recount  the  lives  of  the  many  who  have  borne  well  a 
part  in  the  professions  or  in  business  life,  would  bring  us  to 
the  time  of  approaching  twilight  ere  the  story  ended. 

With  many  thoughts  unspoken,  I  must  hasten  to  the 
close.  The  town  has  seen  many  changes  during  the  past 
fifty  years,  yet  the  hand  of  Time  has  dealt  kindly  with  her. 
The  lumbering  stage  has  given  way  to  the  rail  of  steel,  and 
the  Turnpike  is  almost  forgotten  by  the  traveller;  the  shop, 
filled  with  triumphs  of  Yankee  ingenuity,  has  supplanted  the 
shoe-maker's  bench.  But  the  broad  acres  of  the  farmer, 
annually  yield  their  tribute  as  of  old,  and  with  the  changing 
seasons,  the  beauty  of  hill  and  valley  claims  the  lover  of  the 
quiet  life.  Buildings  have  grown  here  and  there  along  the 
shaded  streets  and  over  and  around  all  the  love  of  Nature's 
footsteps  can  be  seen.  Truly  our  lines  have  fallen  in  pleasant 
places  and  we  have  much  cause  for  thankfulness.     What  our 


58  THE  TOWN    OF   TOPSFIELD. 

fathers  builded  we  must  jealously  maintain  and  when  fifty 
more  years  shall  have  rolled  away,  and  many  of  us  who  are 
here  to-day  shall  sleep  in  dust,  may  those  who  stand  in  our 
places  find  cause  for  rejoicing  in  the  fruits  of  our  stewardship, 
and  thereby  shall  we  be  weighed  and  found  not  wanting. 

Wherever  the  future  may  lead  us,  and  whatever  fortune 
or  honor  the  world  may  give,  it  will  at  all  times  be  the 
cherished  hope  of  every  true  son  of  Topsfield,  to  be  kindly 
remembered  and  "lovingly  honored  on  the  spot  which  gave 
him  birth." 


ALBERT    A.     CONANT. 


CAPT.    JOmN    G.     B.    ADAMS. 
GEN,     FRANCIS    H.    APPLETON. 

HON.     HENRY    CABOT    LODGE. 

EDWIN    O.     FOSTER.  HON.     AUGUSTUS    P.     GARDNER. 

HON.     DAVID    M.     LITTLE 


THE  AFTER-DINNER  EXERCISES. 


The  dinner  was  served  in  a  tent  located  but  a  short  dis- 
tance from  the  Congregational  Church.  Divine  blessing  was 
invoked  by  Rev.  William  N.  Roberts,  pastor  of  the  Methodist 
Church,  and,  after  an  hour  spent  in  festivity  and  social 
converse,  the  Toast-master,  Rev.  George  H.  Perkins,  called 
the  company  to  order  and  said :  — 

Ladies  and  Gentlemen : — We  have  come  to  the  less 
formal  exercises  of  the  day,  but  we  trust  not  to  the  less 
enjoyable.  Notwithstanding  the  dampness  we  shall  offer 
you  neither  wet  nor  dry  toast.  We  promise  it  all  with 
cream.  Because  of  the  large  number  who  are  to  serve  us 
the  quantity  from  each  will  be  small. 

We  announce  as  the  first  toast, 

^^Our  Country,  A  Land  of  Freedom  and  of  Progress,' 

and  I  will  ask  the  Band  to  respond  with  a  patriotic  selection. 

The  Toast-master: — Much  to  our  joy  there  is  present 
one  whose  name  does  not  appear  on  the  programme.  Had 
we  been  assured  of  his  coming  this  apparent  oversight  would 
not  have  occurred.  But  we  are  glad  for  a  double  response 
to  this  toast,  and  no  one  could  make  it  more  fittingly  than 
this  distinguished  guest.  Let  me  present  to  you  the  Hon. 
Henry  Cabot  Lodge,  our  progressive  Senator  of  the  United 
States  Congress. 

(59) 


ADDRESS  OF  HON.  HENRY  CABOT  LODGE. 


It  is  not  often  when  a  speaker  rises  and  says  'this  is  so 
unexpected,  and  that  he  is  not  prepared'  that  anyone  believes 
him,  but  to-day  I  have  the  programme  to  bear  me  out.  My 
name  does  not  appear  upon  it,  as  your  Chairman  has  just 
stated  to  you. 

Nevertheless,  I  could  never  refuse  to  speak  upon  such 
an  occasion  as  this,  the  celebration  of  the  foundation  of  a 
famous  town  of  the  old  county  of  Essex.  I  have  too  many 
personal  attachments  to  the  county  to  decline  such  a  request. 
I  have  lived  all  my  life  in  one  corner  of  the  county  as  my 
father  did  before  me.  My  children  have  been  born  there 
and,  on  one  side,  I  am  a  descendant  from  the  first  minister 
of  the  first  Salem  church,  and  my  people  on  that  side  have 
lived  and  labored,  have  joyed  and  sorrowed,  have  died  and 
been  buried  within  the  bounds  of  the  old  Puritan  county. 

It  is  a  great  history,  that  of  Essex  county,  and  to 
celebrate  the  two  hundred  and  fiftieth  anniversary  of  one 
of  its  towns  means  a  great  deal.  While  two  hundred  and 
fifty  3^ears  is  a  long  time,  measured  by  the  life  of  an 
individual  man,  it  is  a  very  short  time  in  the  history,  even 
the  recorded  history  of  man.  It  is  but  a  speck  in  the  time 
that  men  have  been  upon  the  earth,  and  in  the  life  of  our 
planet;  it  is  but  as  yesterday  or  as  a  watch  in  the  night. 
But  it  is  not  by  the  calendar  that  we  test  the  two  hundred 
and  fifty  years. 

When  Stanley  made  his  great  expedition  across  Central 
Africa,  he  found  there  in  the  heart  of  it,  a  strange  people  of 
black  dwarfs  living  in  that  vast  wilderness,  and  it  again 
appeared  that  the  old  Greek  historian  Herodotus  had  not 
told  quite  as  many  lies  as  some  over  wise  persons  said  he 
did,  and  that  here  was  another  truth  he  had  told  when  he 
mentioned  the  African  dwarfs.  They  had  been  there,  these 
queer  little  people,  for  three  thousand  years  to  our  certain 
knowledge  and  they  were  just  the  same  when  Herodotus 
looked  upon  them  as  when  Stanley  found  them. 

(60) 


r 


.31  0n 


# 


HON,     GEORGE    VON     L.     MEYER. 
CHARLES    J.     PEABODY,  jOHN    W,     PERKINS, 

LIEUT,     GOV,    JOHN     L,     BATES. 

REV.     FRANCIS    A,     POOLE,  HON,     ROBERT    S,     RANTOUL. 

GEORGE    A.     SCHOFIELD. 


TWO    HUNDRED   AND    FIFTIETH    ANNIVERSARY.  6 1 

It  makes  no  difference  whether  you  celebrate  three 
thousand  years,  three  hundred  years,  or  three  days,  if  the 
passage  of  time  be  all.  That  is  simply  existence.  Whether 
there  has  been  something  done  during  that  existence  is  the 
real  question.  It  is  not  the  length  of  time  that  concerns  us, 
but  what  the  men  whom  we  commemorate  have  done  with  it. 
I  can  best  put  the  thought  if  you  will  allow  me  to  do  so  in 
the  beautiful  words  of  a  great  contemporary  poet,  contem- 
porary with  the  men  who  settled  Topsfield,  those  Puritans 
who  first  came  to  Essex  county.  He  was  a  writer  of  stage 
plays,  this  poet,  and  I  am  afraid  that  the  Topsfield  settlers  in 
former  days  before  they  had  come  to  the  new  country,  or 
some  of  them  at  least,  may  have  occasionally  gone  to  the 
London  theatres.  They  may  have  seen  this  poet's  plays, 
they  certainly  must  have  heard  his  verses,  and  they  knew 
that  he  had  won  the  laurel  of  England.     He  said, 

"It  is  not  growing  like  a  tree 

In  bulk,  doth  make  Man  better  be ; 
Or  standing  long  an  oak,  three  hundred  year, 

To  fall  a  log  at  last,  dry,  bald,  and  sere : 
A  lily  of  a  day 
Is  fairer  far  in  May, 
Although  it  fall  and  die  that  night — 

It  was  the  plant  and  flower  of  Light. 
In  small  proportions  we  just  beauties  see ; 

And  in  short  measures  life  may  perfect  be." 

We  think  of  the  men  who  came  here  in  those  earlier 
years  as  religious  reformers,  as  state  builders,  and  they  were 
both,  but  we  are  too  apt  to  forget  that  it  was  a  time  of 
ferment  and  revolution  among  the  English  speaking  peo- 
ple, and  that  other  passions  and  desires  were  also  stirring 
in  their  hearts.  The  men  who  landed  at  Salem  and  who 
settled  Essex  county  brought  with  them  the  language  which 
Shakespeare  uttered  on  his  death  bed,  in  which  Bacon 
delivered  his  judgments,  and  which  Milton  was  lisping  at  his 
mother's  knee.  It  was  a  great  and  splendid  period,  exuberant 
in  life  and  thought  and  hope. 


62  THE  TOWN    OF    TOPSFIELD. 

It  was  the  age  of  adventure  as  well  as  the  age  of 
religious  and  political  revolution,  and  the  Puritans  who  came 
here  were  moved  first,  no  doubt,  by  the  spirit  of  reformation, 
that  they  might  have  their  own  church,  and  their  own  state 
under  a  new  sky,  but  they  were  also  adventurers  and  pioneers, 
researchers  after  new  worlds  to  conquer.  The  people  thus 
planted  here  were  destined  eventually  to  spread  all  over  the 
New  World,  for  after  they  had  settled  upon  the  coast  their 
first  move  was  toward  the  West.  They  began  ev^en  then  to 
expand. 

Topsfield  does  not  seem  very  far  away  from  Salem 
to-day  and  yet  it  was  both  conquest  and  expansion  to  come 
here.  I  suppose  many  of  you  have  read,  if  not,  it  would  be 
well  for  you  to  do  so,  a  book  called  "The  Wonder-working 
Providence  of  Zion's  Saviour  in  New  England."  If,  judging 
from  the  title,  you  think  it  is  a  purely  religious  work,  you  are 
much  mistaken.  It  is  a  book  of  travel  and  adventure.  The 
author  describes  the  first  voyage  of  men  of  our  race  up  the 
Mystic  River.  Remember,  even  while  you  smile,  that  a 
tributary  of  the  Congo  or  the  Amazon  is  not  so  remote  or 
strange  as  the  Mystic  River  was  to  Englishmen  in  that  day. 
Soon  after  they  began  that  march  up  the  Mystic  to  Woburn, 
another  party  pushed  through  the  forest  and  planted  at 
Springfield.  It  was  a  very  slow  movement  for  many  years 
but  always  they  were  sinking  the  foundations  of  the  colony 
strong  and  deep  and  always  they  were  moving  westward. 

When  the  revolution  came.  New  England  was  still  largely 
a  wilderness.  After  the  Revolution,  the  great  immigration 
to  the  farther  west  began,  and  this  New  England  stream  of 
population  from  the  colonies  which  the  Puritans  planted  at 
Plymouth  and  Salem  spread  all  over  the  United  States. 

This  great  stream  began  to  flow  to  the  westward  at  the 
close  of  the  last  century,  but  in  1849,  New  England  men 
went  across  the  Isthmus,  and  round  the  Cape,  and  settled  on 
the  shores  of  the  Pacific.  Now  the  two  wings  have  come 
together  and  the  frontiers  have  vanished.  Earlier  than  that 
they  had  settled  down  in  Hawaii,  at  the  cross-roads  of  the 
Pacific,  and  to-day,  the  flag  floats  from  Salem  harbor,  where 
they  landed,  to  Honolulu,  the  centre  of  the  Pacific  ocean. 
It  has  been  a  great  career   and   it   has  come  out  of  the  fact 


TWO    HUNDRED    AND    FIFTIETH    ANNIVERSARY.  6^ 

that  those  men  not  only  believed  deeply  in  their  religion  and 
in  their  political  principles,  but  that  they  were  pre-eminently 
the  men  of  their  time,  filled  with  its  daring  spirit  of  adventure 
which  they  transmitted  to  their  descendants. 

In  the  speech  to  which  you  listened  to  to-day,  you 
heard  that  what  they  were  doing  was  hidden  from  them,  but 
the  reason  they  succeeded  was  because  they  lived  the  life  of 
their  time.  They  did  not  helplessly  dwell  upon  the  past,  or 
shrink  feebly  from  an  unknown  future.  They  dealt  with  the 
conditions  which  were  around  them,  and  these  men  building 
here,  farmers  and  fishermen,  plain  and  simple  Puritans,  were 
laying  the  foundation  of  the  great  republic.  They  did  not 
know  how  great  that  republic  would  be,  but  they  knew  that 
they  believed  in  themselves,  believed  in  their  principles, 
believed  in  the  democracy  of  town-meeting,  in  the  independ- 
ent church,  and  in  the  independent  state.  Thus  they 
marched  on  conquering  and  to  conquer,  a  great  and  victorious 
race,  and  for  this  they  deserve  remembrance  and  the  praise 
and  love  of  those  who  have  entered  into  their  inheritance. 

T/ie  Toast-master: — The  presence  of  the  chief  citizens 
of  the  State  in  our  town  reminds  us  of  an  early  Governor, 
Edmund  Andros,  who  was  sent  from  England  to  tyranize  New 
York  and  the  NewEngland  Colonies.  The  feelings  of  Topsfield 
towards  him  are  not  the  feelings  of  the  people  today  for  their 
Magistrate.  In  1686,  when  Andros  attempted  to  seize  the 
colonial  charters.  Captain  John  Gould,  speaking  to  his  com- 
pany, on  this  ground  where  we  are  now  assembled,  then  the 
training-field,  said,  "If  you  were  all  of  my  mind,  you  would 
go  and  mob  the  Governor  out  of  Boston."  We  have  not 
mobbed  the  Governor,  we  have  welcomed  him.  And  we 
welcome  his  representative  who  honors  us  at  the  banquet. 
We  find  among  the  earliest  listed  names  on  Topsfield  records, 
one  Bates.  We  have  not  traced  his  descendants,  and  we 
need  not.  We  are  perfectly  satisfied  with  the  representative 
of  that  ancient  settler  of  our  town.  His  Honor,  and  coming 
Excellency,  John  L.  Bates,  Lieutenant-Governor  of  Massa- 
chusetts, will  speak  on 

''The  Commonwealth  of  Massachusetts'' 


ADDRESS   OF   HON.  JOHN    L.   BATES. 


I  regret  that  the  official  duties  of  His  Excellency,  the 
Governor,  should  have  taken  him  from  this  gathering  before 
he  had  the  opportunity  to  respond  to  this  toast  and  to 
extend  to  you  his  congratulations  on  this  occasion.  I  know 
it  would  have  given  him  great  pleasure.  In  his  absence,  it 
is,  however,  a  very  pleasant  duty  that  devolves  upon  me. 

A  reference  has  just  been  made  by  your  Toast-master  to 
one  Francis  Bates  who  lived  here  long  ago.  I  should  not 
have  known  it,  if  I  had  not  gone  into  the  State  Library 
yesterday  and  asked  the  Librarian  if  he  had  anything  on 
Topsfield.  He  brought  out  several  mammoth  volumes,  which 
I  had  not  the  time  to  read,  and  also  the  historical  addresses 
which  were  delivered  fifty  years  ago  when  this  town  cele- 
brated its  two  hundredth  anniversary.  I  found  in  one  of  the 
books  that  the  name  Francis  Bates  appeared  on  the  first  tax 
list  of  this  town.  I  was  uncertain  as  to  whether  or  not  he 
was  any  relative  of  mine,  but  when  I  discovered  that  he 
paid  the  smallest  tax  of  any  one  in  the  town,  and  that  his 
name  disappeared  altogether  from  the  list  of  tax-payers  the 
next  year,  I  made  up  my  mind  that  he  must  have  been  an 
ancestor.  I  read  other  things  of  interest  in  that  history. 
One  writer  referring  to  an  earlier  time  said  : — "even  at  this 
day  bounties  were  offered  for  wolves  and  so  it  is  readily  to 
be  seen  that  it  was  a  good  while  before  Topsfield  ceased  to 
be  a  howling  wilderness."  Doubtless  history  will  repeat 
itself,  and  fifty  years  from  now,  he  who  writes  of  this  occasion 
will  say,  that  on  this  day  the  town  celebrated  its  two  hundred 
and  fiftieth  anniversary,  and,  "amid  a  raging  storm  fourteen 
men  responded  to  toasts,  and  thus  it  is  readily  to  be  seen 
that  it  was  a  good  while  before  Topsfield  ceased  to  be  a 
howling  wilderness." 

(64) 


On  The  Boston  hijj   i\c.-. dukyport  Turi^pike. 

Main  Street,   From  The  Corner  Of  Summer  Street, 

The  Turnpike.    From  The  Corner  Of  Main  Street. 


TWO   HUNDRED   AND   FIFTIETH   ANNIVERSARY.  65 

Having  thus  devoted  myself  at  the  Library  yesterday  to 
your  history,  I  next  endeavored  to  find  out  where  you  were 
located.  I  could  not  find  you  on  the  time-table,  and  I  could 
not  find  you  on  the  map,  and  finally  I  gave  up  and  trusted 
to  intuition,  which  has  served  me  well,  to  bring  me  here 
to-day.  But  as  I  have  observed  the  water  to-day  above  us, 
about  us,  and  beneath  us,  I  have  concluded  that  the  trouble 
was  mine,  it  was  my  ignorance.  I  consulted  the  wrong  kind 
of  a  map.  If  I  had  looked  on  a  chart  of  the  deep  sea  I 
should  have  found  Topsfield. 

I  am  hereto  extend  the  congratulations  of  the  Common- 
wealth, to  one  of  its  children.  Yet  I  recognize  that  the  town 
government  of  Topsfield  is  much  older  than  the  Common- 
wealth, older  than  the  Province  of  Massachusetts,  for  its 
origin  dates  from  the  days  of  the  Colony.  There  are  353 
cities  and  towns  in  this  Commonwealth.  In  population,  under 
the  census  of  1895,  7^"  rank  as  the  250th,  but  in  age  you 
are  among  the  first  forty  of  the  towns  within  our  territory. 

We  are  interested  in  you  to-day  because  you  are  such  a 
grand  type  of  the  old  New  England  town  to  which  the 
speaker  referred  this  morning.  A  type  of  a  strong,  rugged, 
and  liberty  loving  community  whose  deeds  it  is  an  inspiration 
to  recall.  We  recognize  that  the  greatest  legacy  received  from 
those  that  have  gone,  is  not  the  legacy  of  silver  or  gold,  is 
not  the  legacy  of  houses  or  lands,  but  is  the  legacy  of  traits 
of  character  such  as  have  come  down  to  us  through  the 
seven  generations  of  men  and  women  who  have  lived  on 
these  New  England  shores.  We  are  interested  in  those  who 
lived  before  us.  We  like  to  rehearse  the  ancient  virtues, 
virtues  that  have  not  passed  away,  and  "to  point  the  present 
to  the  olden  day,"  because  we  recognize  that  we  are  but  the 
product  of  the  past;  but  whatever  of  hope  or  encouragement 
there  may  be  for  the  future,  exists  because  of  the  past. 

Topsfield  has  a  worthy  history.  Her  early  settlers  were 
men  who  had  the  courage,  the  manhood,  and  the  vigor  to 
make  for  themselves  a  foothold  upon  this  continent.  They 
withstood  all  privations.  Independence  and  liberty  were 
born  in  them.  Listen  to  the  voice  of  Topsfield  in  town- 
meeting  : — ''Should  the  Continental  Congress  see  fit  to  declare 
the   independence   of  these    colonies,  we   the  inhabitants  of 


66  THE  TOWN    OF  TOPSFIELD. 

Topsfield  will  support  that  declaration,  with  our  lives  and 
property  to  the  full  extent  of  our  power."  They  meant  what 
they  said  and  they  made  their  declaration  good. 

I  bring  you  congratulations  because  you  have  exemplified 
in  your  history  the  progress  and  influence  of  Massachusetts. 
Hence  I  congratulate  you  on  this  occasion  not  only  on  that 
which  we  see,  but  also  on  that  which  is  unseen.  For  the 
history  of  Topsfield  is  not  to  be  made  up  from  the  one 
thousand  people  who  constitute  her  population  to-day,  it  is 
not  to  be  made  up  alone  from  the  people  who  have  lived 
here  the  past  two  hundred  and  fifty  years,  it  is  not  confined 
to  these  broad  acres  whose  boundaries  for  two  centuries  and 
one-half  your  town  of^cers  have  perambulated.  No,  there 
is  a  greater,  an  unseen  Topsfield.  For  there  has  gone  forth 
from  here  as  from  a  fountain,  a  stream  of  humanity  that  has 
spread  throughout  the  country,  and  Topsfield  is  a  factor  in 
the  thought,  activity  and  life  of  the  nation,  through  the  sons 
and  daughters  that  she  has  sent  forth. 

May  you,  may  she,  may  all  the  citizens  of  this  great 
Commonwealth,  be  inspired  in  the  future  by  the  same  hardy 
spirit,  by  the  same  love  of  liberty,  the  same  interest  in  the 
public  welfare,  the  same  honest  activity  that  have  character- 
ized her  two  hundred  and  fifty  years  of  history. 

T/ie  Toast-master: — You  may  have  heard  of  the  woman 
who  wanted  the  thermometer  set  at  65,  for  that  was  what  the 
doctor  told  her  to  keep  the  room  at.  The  committee  has 
instructed  me  to  set  it  at  65  less  60,  after  the  first  two  speak- 
ers. I  must  regretfully  request  therefore  that  the  remaining 
speakers  do  not  rise  too  high  lest  the  thermometer  be  broken 
and  the  chronometer  fail  to  record  the  five  minutes  limitation. 

Twin  babies  are  not  uncommon,  but  twin  mothers  are 
seldom  heard  of.  Topsfield  is  honored  with  the  unusual 
distinction  of  having  two  mothers  really  her  own.  I  suppose 
Salem  named  the  child  first,  when  it  was  very  "little."  It  is 
highly  proper  that  we  should  hear  from  our  mothers  and  that 
Salem  should  send  one  of  her  "Little"  ones  to  speak  for  her. 
I  have  the  pleasure  of  introducing  His  Honor,  David  M. 
Little,  the  mayor  of  Salem,  who  will  respond  to  the  toast 

''Our  Mother  Towns:  Salem  and  Ipswich y 


Near  Rowley  Bridge, 

Oak  Tree,   Over  400  Years  Old, 

Hood's  Pond,  Looking  Southward. 


ADDRESS  OF  HON.  DAVID  M.  LITTLE. 

I  was  fully  warned  before  I  came  here,  by  a  letter  from 
Mr.  Dow,  that  I  was  to  speak  only  three  and  not  more  than 
five  minutes.  Now  Mr.  President  if  you  will  kindly  put  the 
watch  on  me  and  when  I  have  spoken  three  minutes  I  will 
stop. 

The  president  has  spoken  of  a  mistake  which  I  noticed 
on  the  programme  and  that  was  "Our  Mother  Towns."  As 
you  all  know,  it  is  perfectly  possible  for  a  man  to  have  a 
mother  and  a  step  mother,  but  he  can  not  have  two  mothers. 

As  we  are  gathered  here  today  to  celebrate  the  250th 
anniversary  of  this  town,  we  are  having  brought  before  us 
the  true  significance  of  the  town.  It  is  nothing  more  or  less 
than  a  large  family  and  as  we  have  been  seated  here  today  at 
these  tables  we  have  seemed  like  a  family.  This  town  of 
which  we  speak  is  a  large  farnily,  and  it  is  governed  by  a 
select  few  who  are  practically  the  head  of  that  family.  The 
town  differs  very  little  from  the  state  except  in  size  and  I,  as 
the  representative,  as  we  might  say,  of  the  city  of  Salem 
come  here  today  to  extend  to  you  the  congratulations  which 
you  deserve.  It  is  pleasant  for  me  to  come  here  and  extend 
my  best  wishes  to  you,  although  I  must  say  your  welcome 
was  a  little  bit  moist  today. 

I  wish  you  all  success  and  that  you  may  prosper  in  the 
next  two  hundred  and  fifty  years  as  you  have  in  the  past. 

The  Toast-master: — The  town  grew,  the  garden  became 
a  field.  The  other  mother  seems  also  to  have  named  the 
child,  and  she  liked  the  name  so  well  that  she  keeps  a  part 
of  it  for  a  child  of  her  immediate  household.  Ipswich  sends 
greetings  to  Topsfield  by  Mr.  George  A.  Schofield,  Chairman 
of  her  Selectmen  will  speak  on 

''Our  Mother  Towns:  Salem  and  Ipswich!' 

(67) 


ADDRESS  OF  MR.  GEORGE  A.  SCHOFIELD. 


Mr.  Chairman,  Sons  and  Daughters  of  Topsfield,  and 
Friends: 

In  every  country  upon  this  earth,  whether  it  be  in  the 
sun-kissed  tropics ;  mid  the  icy  cold  of  the  polar  regions,  or 
in  our  own  grand  temperate  zone,  it  is  an  acknowledged  fact 
that  a  mother's  love  is  the  strongest  love  of  all,  and  today, 
standing  here  to  speak  for  the  old  mother  town  of  Ipswich, 
I  assure  you  that  among  the  thousands  who  vie  with  each 
other  to  extend  their  congratulations  to  you,  and  to  feel  joy 
and  pride  at  the  success  of  this,  your  250th  anniversary, 
there  are  none  who  are  more  earnest  and  sincere  than  are 
the  people  of  old  Ipswich.  Topsfield  is  250  years  young, 
not  old,  today.  I  say  young,  for  there  is  no  evidence  of  old 
age  about  your  beautiful  town.  Your  fertile  valleys,  green 
hills  and  pine  groves,  give  every  evidence  that  here  Nature 
has  met  with  better  success  in  the  search  for  the  fountain  of 
youth,  than  did  he  who  sought  it  in  the  valley  of  the  Missis- 
sippi so  many  years  ago.  Your  people  can  indeed  be 
congratulated  as  fortunate  residents  of  a  town,  which  while 
it  has  not  seized  upon  all  so-called  improvements,  has  selected 
with  wisdom  such  modern  ideas  as  go  to  make  your  homes 
beautiful  and  pleasant,  wnthout  destroying  the  grand  work 
of  Nature,  which  to  all  lovers  of  true  beauty,  so  surpasses  the 
puny  efforts  of  man.  You  have  here  that  delightful  blending 
of  characteristics,  which  go  to  make  an  ideal  New  England 
Town,  and  search  where  you  will  there  are  none  fairer.  Nearly 
three  hundred  years  ago,  there  came  from  a  foreign  land  a 
band  of  those  sturdy  men  who  laid  the  foundation  for  this 
glorious  Republic.  Down  by  the  sea  was  established  the 
good  old  town  of  Ipswich.  A  few  years  later  she  gave  birth 
to   Topsfield,   and   for  two    centuries  and  a  half,  mother  and 

(68) 


Rowley    Bridge,  Over  The  Ipswich  River 
Hood's  Pond,   From   Poor's  Po:nt. 


TWO    HUNDRED   AND    FIFTIETH   ANNIVERSARY.  69 

daughter  have  stood  side  by  side  in  joy  and  in  sorrow. 
Upon  the  records  of  the  town  of  Ipswich  you  will  find  the 
following: 

"Vote  passed  at  Ipswich  Town  Meeting,  August  23, 
1687. 

Then  considering  that  the  s'd  act  doth  infringe  their 
Liberty  as  Free  borne  English  subjects  of  his  Majestie  by 
interfearing  with  ye  statuatory  Laws  of  the  Land,  By  which 
it  is  enacted  that  no  taxes  shall  be  levied  on  ye  Subjects 
without  consent  of  an  assembly  chosen  by  ye  Freeholders 
for  assessing  the  same:  They  do  therefore  vote,  that  they 
are  not  willing  too  choose  a  Commissioner  for  such  an  end, 
without  said  previledges,  and  moreover  consent  not  that  the 
Selectmen  do  proseed  to  lay  any  such  rate,  until  it  be  Ap- 
pointed by  a  General  Assembly,  concurring  with  ye  Governor 
and  Counsell." 

Upon  our  town  seal  you  will  find  the  words,  "Birthplace 
of  American  Independence,"  as  we  proudly  claim  that  the 
action  then  taken  by  the  town  was  the  first  official  act  in  the 
colonies  against  taxation  without  representation.  Even  in 
those  early  days,  Topsfield  stood  loyally  by  the  mother  town, 
and  the  history  of  your  own  town  shows,  that  men  like  John 
Gould  suffered  imprisonment  for  their  loyalty  to  the  colonies, 
and  their  hatred  of  the  oppressor,  Andros. 

In  the  war  of  the  Revolution,  the  men  and  boys  of  both 
mother  and  daughter  fought  side  by  side,  and  gave  life  and 
limb  for  Freedom's  cause,  and  in  1861  the  men  and  boys  of 
both  again  shed  their  life's  blood  in  order  that  the  Freedom 
which  their  fathers  had  won,  might  be  preserved  and  shared 
alike  by  all  men  whether  their  color  be  white  or  black.  So, 
today,  the  old  mother  bids  me  say  to  you  that  she  is  indeed 
proud  of  her  daughter,  proud  of  her  grandchildren,  for  she 
knows  full  well  that  your  honorable  record  of  the  past  would 
again  be  duplicated  should  necessity  call.  She  bids  me  say 
also,  that  she  does  not  forget  that  the  true  mother  takes 
greater  pride  in  hearing  the  praises  of  her  children  sung  by 
others,  rather  than  by  herself,  and  it  is  my  duty  as  her 
representative  to  bear  that  in  mind,  and  not  to  take  up  the 
time  which  is  allotted  to  others  here  today.  So  Mr.  President 
I   will   close,   by  extending  to   you   and   to    the   people   of 


70  THE  TOWN   OF   TOPSFIELD. 

Topsfield,  the  sincere  congratulations  of  the  people  of 
Ipswich ;  and  the  hope  that  this  anniversary  celebration 
will  be  long  remembered  as  one  of  both  pleasure  and  profit 
to  you  all,  and  that  when  thfe  next  anniversary  celebration 
shall  come  around,  that  whether  it  be  given  to  us  all  to  be 
present  or  not,  that  the  people  of  1950  will  find  Topsfield, 
then  as  now,  true  to  the  grand  example  set  her  by  her  sons 
in  the  past,  and  then,  as  now,  may  Old  Glory,  the  emblem  of 
liberty,  float  triumphant  over  a  nation  of  happy,  loyal  people 
of  whom  none  shall  be  happier,  none  more  loyal  than  those 
of  fair  Topsfield. 


The  Toast-master: — The  Town  of  Topsfield.  It  was  not 
always  thus.  New  Meadows  was  its  earlier  name.  What 
was  its  origin?  Who  can  tell?  Probably  it  will  remain  a 
conjecture.  Here,  however,  is  a  pertinent  suggestion.  A 
now  prominent  resident  remarking  to  one  of  our  old  towns- 
men the  great  similarity  of  the  natural  scenery  of  Topsfield 
to  that  of  Kent  County,  England,  received  this  quick  reply, 
"New  Meadows,  a  fitting  name  from  the  old  meadows  of  the 
mother  country." 

A  direct  descendent  from  one  of  the  earliest  and  one  of 
the  most  distinguished  settlers,  and  whose  father  spoke  at 
the  celebration  fifty  years  ago,  will  now  address  you.  Mr. 
Charles  J.  Peabody  of  Topsfield  will  respond  to  the  toast 

^'The  Town  of  Topsfieldy 


THE    DRY    BRIDGE, 
THE    HOBBS-DONALDSON    GRIST    MILL,   built  in   i740-4I 


ADDRESS  OF  MR.  CHARLES  J.  PEABODY. 


To  the  fact  of  the  inability  of  one  of  the  former  speakers 
to  find  Topsfield  on  the  map  or  time  table,  I  would  like  to 
say,  it  is  exactly  the  geographical  centre  of  Essex  County, 
and  Essex  County  is  always  to  be  found.  About  a  half  mile 
to  the  east  of  us  stands  a  tree  which  was  planted  by  the 
county  surveyor,  so  that  gentlemen  from  Boston  or  elsewhere 
might  have  no  difificulty  in  finding  Topsfield  when  they  had 
occasion  to  know  where  it  was. 

Gathered  here  today,  I  suppose  there  are  a  great  many 
people  who  know  very  little  about  the  town  of  Topsfield 
beyond  what  they  have  learned  at  this  celebration.  It  is  not 
so  large  a  place  in  some  respects,  but  it  is  large  to  us  who 
live  in  it.  It  is  not  large  in  the  extent  of  its  population,  or 
in  the  growth  of  its  industries,  but  in  the  value  that  its  citizens 
have  always  based  upon  intelligence,  education  and  the 
ability  to  do  the  task  that  was  set  before  its  people. 

We  are  proud  of  our  school  system.  During  a  recent 
vacancy  in  our  High  school  there  were  over  seventy  teachers 
from  all  over  the  New  England  states  who  applied  for  the 
position.  There  are  at  least  a  large  number  of  teachers  who 
know  where  Topsfield  is  and  were  able  to  find  it  on  some 
map  or  time  table.  Fifty  years  ago  the  teacher  of  that 
school  was  a  graduate  of  an  Academy  and  was  one  of  the 
chief  men  of  the  town,  and  we  greatly  appreciate  the  progress 
made  by  our  people,  for  today  our  school  affords  just  as 
good  an  opportunity  for  an  education  as  any  of  the  adjoining 
towns. 

The  orator  of  fifty  years  ago  spoke  of  the  Crowningshield 
farm,  now  the  Pierce  estate,  as  being  like  an  emerald  in 
beauty.  We  are  fortunate  as  a  town  that  men  of  taste  and 
means  have  owned  it,  from  that  day  to  this;   and  now  under 

(71) 


72  THE  TOWN    OF   TOPSFIELD. 

the  care  and  ownership  of  our   Chief   Marshal   it  rests  like  a 
jewel  on  the  crown  of  the  town. 

We  welcome  the  rich  man  who  seeks  a  commanding 
location  to  establish  a  summer  home.  We  welcome  every 
man,  rich  or  otherwise,  who  seeks  the  good  of  the  community. 
We  welcome  all  you  who  have  come  to  us  today  and  though 
the  weather  is  unfavorable  now,  come  on  almost  any  other 
day  of  the  year  and  we  will  give  you  a  welcome  that  will  be 
dry  and  will  send  you  home  dry;  if  you  are  disposed  to  go 
that  way. 


The  Toast-Master: — It  was  Hosea  Ballou  who  said, 
''History  makes  haste  to  record  great  deeds,  but  often 
neglects  good  ones,"  and  Carlyle  said,  "Histories  are  as 
perfect  as  the  historian  is  wise  and  is  gifted  with  an  eye 
and  a  soul."  There  is  one  with  us  who  has  not  neglected 
the  "good  deeds,"  and  who  has  "an  eye  and  a  soul,"  whose 
accuracy  and  fidelity  in  research  have  made  his  publications 
as  historian  and  author  of  real  worth.  The  Hon.  Robert  S. 
Rantoul,  President  of  the  Essex  Institute,  will  favor  us. 


'Local  History  in  Essex  County^ 


■m 


^S^: 


ROWLEY    BRIDGE,  TOWNE'S    BRIDGE,  RIVER    BRIDGE. 


ADDRESS  OF  HON.  ROBERT  S.  RANTOUL. 


I  want  to  say  to  my  friends  that  I  am  not  here  to  criticise 
their  excellent  arrangements,  but  the  suggestion  has  been 
made  to  me  that  possibly  too  large  provision  had  been  made 
for  the  floats.  I  do  not  purpose  to  tax  your  patience  beyond 
a  single  moment  in  which  I  may  simply  express  the  sense  of 
obligation  which  I  feel  towards  Topsfield  and  the  sense  of 
duty  which  I  feel  towards  the  Essex  Institute,  since  you  have 
made  in  this  crowded  festival  a  little  place  for  us  to  be  heard. 

I  think  it  is  an  honor  to  be  here.  These  occasions  occur 
but  four  times  in  a  thousand  years,  and  while  I  am  always 
happy  to  be  in  Topsfield,  today  while  you  are  engaged  in 
writing  this  pleasant  page  in  the  history  of  Essex  County,  I 
am  especially  glad  to  be  here.  We  are  in  the  habit  of 
claiming  for  Essex  County  that  it  has  more  history  to  the 
acre  than  any  county  on  the  continent  of  North  America. 
It  is  one  of  the  very  oldest  counties,  and,  excluding  the  great 
cities,  one  of  the  most  densely  populated. 

There  are  very  few,  if  any,  sections  of  the  size  of  Essex 
County,  outside  of  the  great  cities,  to  be  credited  with  so 
large  and  so  distinguished  a  population.  It  has  six  or  seven 
thriving  cities,  one  the  great  fish-mart  of  the  County — one 
the  great  shoe-factory  of  the  County.  It  has  its  half-dozen 
advantageous  sea-ports  and  a  magnificent,  lordly  river  flowing 
through  the  northern  section  of  it  and  turning  more  spindles 
than  any  stream  of  water  in  the  world,  and  in  the  center  of 
this  great  swarming  hive  of  varied  industries  there  must  be  a 
pivotal  town,  and  that  town  is  the  town  of  Topsfield, — 
geographically  so  placed,  a  worthy  center  of  this  fine  old 
community.  In  the  olden  times,  the  old  stage-coach  days, 
it  was  in  a  sense  the  County  Metropolis, — the  center  of  the 
scientific,  literary,  political  and  agricultural  activities  of  the 
county. 

It  gives  me  much  pleasure  to  be  here  today  as  a 
representative,  if  I  may  say  so,  of  the  one  Historical  Society 
embracing  the  entire  county.  I  most  heartily  congratulate 
you  upon  your  distinguished    history  as  portrayed  by  the 

(73) 


74 


THE   TOWN    OF   TOPSFIELD. 


various  speakers,  and  especially  on  the  claims  made  by  the 
last  speaker  in  behalf  of  your  school  system.  I  think,  how- 
ever, there  is  another  point  not  so  much  alluded  to  which 
may  be  counted  to  the  credit  of  Topsfield  and  it  is  this,  and 
I  think  it  may  not  improperly  be  emphasized  here,  that  she 
is  a  typical  representative  of  the  healthy  old-fashioned  New 
England  town  democracy,  if  you  please,  standing  rather 
alone,  rather  aside  and  independent  of  her  neighbors — stand- 
ing on  her  own  merits,  and  she  has  her  historical  merits.  A 
beautiful,  a  perfect  object  lesson  of  the  old  fashioned  idea, 
and  yet  it  does  not  seem  to  be  old  fashioned  in  any  proper 
sense,  of  New  England  town  autonomy. 

It  is  as  good  to  live  in  a  small  community,  as  in  a  great 
city,  and  to  me  there  is  a  special  attraction  here :  every 
citizen  knows  all  about  every  other  citizen.  When  you  are 
called  on  at  March  meeting  to  select  your  town  magnates, 
you  are  not  picking,  as  we  of  the  larger  places  are  forced  to 
do,  among  strangers.  Nor  is  the  place  too  small  to  be 
worthy  of  the  honest  pride  which  every  citizen  takes  in  his 
contributions  to  the  general  advance  and  substantial  interests 
of  his  little  home  community.  Distant  be  the  day  when 
Topsfield  shall  have  outgrown  its  town  autonomy ! 

I  hold  her  up  then  as  a  model  in  this  respect.  I  like  to  be 
here  to  gaze  upon  her  grassy  hill-sides  and  to  breath  the 
bracingair  of  this  high  region,  but  I  like  especially  to  be  here 
to  contemplate  Topsfield  as  a  fit  survival  of  our  old-time.  New 
England  town  autonomy,  enshrined  as  she  is  amidst  her 
rural  beauty,  like  a  little,  miniature  republic,  in  the  heart  of 
Essex  County,  just  as  Switzerland,  the  oldest  republic  of 
them  all,  sits  enthroned  amidst  her  Alpine  grandeur,  in  the 
heart  of  Europe. 

The  Toast-master: — The  church  has  ever  been  a  vital 
factor  in  the  life  of  the  New  England  town.  Indeed  the 
history  of  the  church  is  in  a  great  degree  the  history  of  the 
town.  The  Rev.  Francis  A.  Poole  of  Weymouth,  Mass.,  and 
a  recent  pastor  of  the  local  Congregational  church,  will  speak 
upon  this  interesting  subject. 

''The  Church  in   Topsfield ^ 


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51 

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VIEWS  ON  THE    IPSWICH    RIVER,  THE    RAILROAD    BRIDGE. 


ADDRESS  OF  REV.  FRANCIS  A.  POOLE. 


That  you  may  have  abundant  respect  for  the  present 
religious  life  of  Topsfield  (and  especially  that  our  invited 
guests  may  cherish  this  respect),  I  would  say  that  the  gentle- 
man who  responded  so  happily  to  the  toast  "The  Town  of 
Topsfield",  is  deacon  of  the  Congregational  Church  of  this 
town. 

The  Church  in  Topsfield  is  a  miniature  of  the  Church  in 
New  England.  For  two  and  a  half  centuries  it  has  moulded 
thought  and  action  and  what  the  history  of  the  Town  would 
have  been  without  it  no  man  knows.  The  Church  in  Tops- 
field  has  not  been  the  ideal  church  for  the  actual  church  is 
never  such.  Human  nature  with  all  its  weakness  and  per- 
versity is  sure  to  manifest  itself,  in  the  ecclesiastical  as  well 
as  in  the  political  realm,  and  human  nature,  I  need  not  say, 
has  found  a  dwelling-place  among  these  hills. 

But  while  the  ideal  church  has  not  been  realized  it  has 
been  worthily  represented.  If  the  religious  life  of  Topsfield 
has  not  always  been  fragrant  with  brotherly  love,  the  spirit 
of  the  Nazarene  has  yet  found  sweet  and  helpful  expression. 
Sympathy  has  afforded  comfort  in  time  of  sorrow  and  assist- 
ance has  been  rendered  in  distress.  If  the  preaching  of 
Topsfield  pulpits  (like  every  other  pulpit  known  to  time) 
has  presented  truth  in  a  solution  of  error,  the  truth,  never- 
theless, has  been  proclaimed.  The  splendid  manhood  of 
Jesus  Christ  has  been  portrayed  before  the  people.  Ideals 
of  holy  living  have  been  set  forth,  their  beauty  to  be  admired, 
their  power  to  be  felt.  With  utmost  faith  in  virtue  and  to  the 
praise  of  the  Most  High,  the  thoughts  of  Topsfield  youths 
and  maidens  have  been  directed  to  what  is  pure  and  true 
and  just  and  lovely  and  of  good  report.  And  some  of  the 
best  citizens  of  the  Town,  whose  work  was  largest,  whose 

(75) 


'J^  THE  TOWN   OF    TOPSFIELD. 

influence  most  potent  and  whose  memory  is  most  sacredly 
revered,  were  nurtured  in  the  life  that  is  useful  and  honorable 
by  the  ministrations  of  the  Christian  Church. 

The  moral  superiority  of  Christian  principles  is  recog- 
nized on  every  hand  ;  the  integrity  and  piety  of  the  days 
that  are  gone  no  one  can  question  and  the  Town  of  Topsfield, 
with  the  rest  of  New  England  and  all  these  United  States, 
has  profited  beyond  our  ability  to  estimate  because  our 
forefathers  came  here  to  worship  God. 

And  so  the  Church  in  Topsfield  stands  upon  its  record. 
It  is  a  record  not  always  creditable.  Yet  it  proves  I  think, 
beyond  the  possibility  of  a  contrary  verdict,  that  the  Church 
has  mightly  blessed  the  Tow^n.  This  of  the  Church  in  the 
past;  this  of  the  record  that  is  made  and  of  the  influence 
that  has  been  exerted.  But  what  of  the  present  and  of  the 
years  that  are  to  come?  It  is  but  a  mockery  and  a  waste  of 
time  to  study  and  exalt  the  past  unless  it  have  power  to 
instruct  and  inspire  with  relation  to  the  coming  time.  And 
what  of  the  Church  in  Topsfield  in  the  years  that  are  yet  in 
store?  The  Church  of  the  past  I  revere,  the  Church  of  the 
present  I  love,  but  it  is  the  Church  of  the  future  for  which  I 
pray. 

I  am  aware  of  the  dangers  of  prophecy,  and  this  tale  of 
an  English  clergyman  comes  forcibly  to  mind.  He  was 
baptizing  a  little  child  and  something  in  the  face  before  him 
appealed  to  his  imagination.  He  was  moved  to  make  a 
speech.  ''Behold  this  child  !  I  predict  for  him  an  honorable 
career.  This  child  may  lead  armies  on  to  the  field  of  battle. 
This  child  may  address  a  wondering  Senate  and  his  eloquence 
be  received  with  applause.  Yes,  who  knows?  He  may 
become  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  or  Prime  Minister  of 
England."  And  then  turning  to  the  father,  he  asked  the 
child's  name  and  the  father  answered,  "Mary  Ann."  And 
so  it  is.  We  make  our  prophecy  and  some  perverse  circum- 
stance that  has  eluded  us  brings  our  prediction  all  to  naught. 

I  am  aware,  too,  of  the  pessimism  of  the  time.  The 
Church  has  competitors  now  for  popular  favor.  Her  congre- 
gations are  diminishing.  Her  power  is  on  the  wane.  The 
issue  of  her  life  is  not  yet  apparent  but  the  tendencies  are 
such  as  to  arouse  the  gravest  fears.     Discouraging   Pessi- 


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TWO    HUNDRED   AND   FIFTIETH    ANNIVERSARY.  T] 

mism  !  Mightiest  of  all  the  devices  of  Satanic  art !  And  is 
there  no  bright  prospect  before  the  church  of  the  living 
God?  It  is  time  for  prophecy  to  speak.  In  the  oration  this 
morning  the  school-house  and  the  house  of  worship  were 
referred  to  as  the  defenders  of  the  Nation.  And  at  the  very- 
moment  when  decadent  politics  and  unscrupulous  monopoly 
are  said  to  menace  the  national  life,  the  Christian  Church  and 
her  daughter  the  Christian  College  are  radiant  with  hope. 
These  are  injecting  a  new  vitality  into  the  veins  of  the 
Republic.  A  strong  ethical  gospel  is  heard  in  the  pulpit, 
while  the  university  is  swayed  by  the  love  of  truth.  Recti- 
tude and  altruism  are  foremost  in  the  preaching  and  the 
teaching  of  the  time.  Appeal  is  made  to  the  manly  impulses 
and  to  the  social  instinct,  and  even  now  already  brotherhood 
disputes  the  advance  of  avarice,  in  the  name  and  with  the 
authority  of  the  Nazarene. 

Well  indeed  the  Church  has  wrought  but  her  mission  is 
yet  before  her.  And  the  Church  in  Topsfield,  Methodist, 
Congregational,  in  league  with  the  great  sisterhood  of 
Churches  in  the  United  States  is  to  prove  an  instrument  in 
the  ethical  revival  that  is  coming;  when  our  sovereign  man- 
hood will  be  exalted  to  a  higher  plane,  and  when  it  will  be 
made  gloriously  manifest,  in  the  sight  of  all  this  world  beside, 
that  our  American  Democracy  so  far  from  being  the  failure 
that  pessimists  predict,  is  marching  to  its  triumph  in  this 
fairest  Western  Land. 


The  Toast-Master. — In  the  time  of  the  American 
Revolution,  when  there  were  but  six  hundred  inhabitants  in 
the  town,  one  hundred  and  nine  were  enrolled  as  soldiers. 
During  the  Civil  War  Topsfield  furnished  more  than  her  quota. 
Patriotic  from  the  beginning,  her  service  to  the  country  has 
been  marked  by  brave  deeds  and  heroic  sacrifice.  We  are 
happy  in  having  one  today  who  can  worthily  speak  for  our 
patriot  soldier,  Captain  John  G.  B.  Adams  of  Lynn,  who  will 
respond  to  the  toast, 

^'The  Patriot  Soldier — Topsfield  in  War.*' 


ADDRESS  OF  CAPT.  JOHN  G.  B.  ADAMS. 


Mr.  Toast-master: — I  am  more  fortunate  than  the  other 
speakers  because  I  have  just  received  a  message  from  the 
President  of  the  Senate  and  Speaker  of  the  House,  giving 
me  their  time,  so  I  have  fifteen  minutes  instead  of  five.  I 
have  listened  attentively  to  the  reference  to  the  weather,  and 
am  reminded  of  a  little  incident  in  the  war.  An  Irishman  in 
my  old  company  was  on  guard  in  a  drenching  rain.  The 
Colonel,  passing  his  beat,  said, — "Michael,  I  am  sorry  to  see 
you  so  wet."  "Colonel,"  he  said,  "I  wouldn't  mind  being  so 
wet  if  I  wasn't  so  dry." 

I  am  to  speak  for  the  soldiers  of  Topsfield.  I  did  not 
represent  this  town  in  the  war,  but  was  a  soldier  from  Essex 
County.  I  remember,  after  enlisting  in  the  early  days  of  '6i, 
I  started  with  two  others  on  the  march  from  Groveland  to 
Salem.  We  stopped  at  Topsfield  on  the  way  and  enjoyed 
the  hospitality  of  the  town.  Undoubtedly  our  appearance 
on  that  occasion  inspired  many  men  to  rush  to  the  front. 

The  Lieutenant-Governor  has  referred  to  his  visit  to  the 
State  Library  to  find  material  for  a  speech.  We  have  worked 
the  Library  at  the  State  House  pretty  well  to  ascertain  what 
to  say  about  Topsfield,  and  I  find  the  following  from 
Schouler's  "History  of  Massachusetts  in  the  Civil  War" : — 

''Preamble  and  Resolutions: — Considering  the  present 
position  of  our  country,  not  as  waging  war  against  the  South, 
nor  a  party  device,  but  an  essay  of  the  people  to  sustain 
their  own  rights,  preserve  their  own  institutions,  give  efB- 
ciency  to  their  own  laws,  invigorate  their  execution,  and 
perpetuate  the  inheritance  of  our  fathers  unimpaired, — 

Resolved,  That  we,  the  loyal  people  of  Topsfield,  in 
town-meeting  assembled,  constitute  ourselves  a  National 
Guard  for  the  preservation  of  our  national  integrity. 

(78) 


Residence  of   DAVID    PINGREE, 

THE    OLD    TOLL    HOUSE  and  the  TURNPIKE 


TWO    HUNDRED   AND   FIFTIETH   ANNIVERSARY.  79 

Resolved,  That  we  appropriate  the  sum  of  three  thousand 
dollars  to  meet  the  exigency  of  a  national  requisition  on 
any  detachment  of  our  National  Guard,  giving  a  bounty  of 
ten  dollars  to  each  one  who  may  conform  to  this  requisition. 

Resolved,  That  there  be  a  discretionary  committee  of 
five,  chosen  by  ballot,  to  furnish  good  and  sufficient  support 
from  such  appropriation  to  the  families  of  those  who  may 
be  detailed  by  our  Government  into  its  service,  giving  said 
committee  power  to  draw  on  our  treasury  for  the  same." 

Topsfield  furnished  one  hundred  and  thirteen  men  for 
the  war,  which  was  a  surplus  of  six  over  and  above  all 
demands.  Five  were  commissioned  officers.  The  whole 
amount  of  money  appropriated  and  expended  by  the  town 
for  war  purposes,  exclusive  of  State  aid,  was  fourteen 
thousand  seven  hundred  and  forty-six  dollars  and  thirty-five 
cents  ($14,746.35). 

The  amount  of  money  raised  and  expended  by  the  town 
in  the  payment  of  State  aid  to  the  families  of  volunteers 
during  the  four  years  of  the  war,  and  which  was  afterwards 
reimbursed  by  the  Commonwealth,  was  as  follows : 

1 861,  $307.46 

1862,  1,628.58 

1863,  2,259.00 

1864,  2,020.00 

1865,  1,419.06 

Total,  $7,634.10 
The  ladies  of  Topsfield  worked  heartily  in  the  cause  of  the 
soldiers  during  the  war,  and  forwarded  to  the  army  money, 
clothing  and  hospital  stores  to  the  value  of  five  hundred 
dollars. 

While  we  are  proud  of  our  service  in  the  army  and  navy 
of  the  Union  during  the  war,  we  have  been  equally  proud  of 
our  records  as  citizens  since.  It  was  expected  that  when 
more  than  1,000,000  men  were  mustered  out  in  1865,  they 
would  return  demoralized  and  unfit  for  civil  life,  but  in  the 
Adjutant-General's  report  of  1865  I  find  the  following,  which 
shows  that  the  men  from  this  town  returned  as  good  citizens, 
if  not  better,  than  they  went  away, — 

T  have  not  been  able  to  find  any  returned  soldier  guilty 
of  crime,  or  hardly  a  case  of  drunkenness  or  a  loafer,  but  all, 


8o  THE  TOWN    OF  TOPSFIELD. 

or  nearly  all,  have  gone  quietly  to  work  In  some  useful 
employment,  and  I  think  some  have  improved  in  morals.  I 
know  of  none  that  have  grown  worse. 

Jacob  Foster,  Chairman  Selectmen.' 

No  soldier,  whatever  his  political  faith  may  be,  can  help 
being  proud  of  the  fact  that  the  boy  who  carried  a  musket  in  the 
ranks  of  the  old  Army  of  the  Potomac  as  a  private  soldier, 
who  as  a  Lieutenant  rode  with  Sheridan  up  the  Valley  in 
1 864,  is  to-day  President  of  the  United  States  and  Commander- 
in-chief  of  our  army  and  navy. 

I  was  personally  acquainted  with  but  two  men  who 
enlisted  from  this  town.  One  was  James  Dunlap,  who  was 
killed  July  30,  1864;  the  other  Nathan  H.  Roberts,  who 
served  with  me  in  the  ranks  of  the  old  19th.  Massachusetts, 
and  starved  to  death  in  a  rebel  prison  rather  than  renounce 
the  oath  of  allegiance  to  the  Union  and  take  the  oath  of  the 
Southern  Confederacy. 

We  have  sometimes  thought,  since  the  war,  that  the 
patriotism  was  exhausted  when  we  were  mustered  out  of  the 
service ;  that  the  young  men  of  to-day  were  possibly  not  as 
loyal  and  true  to  duty  as  the  boys  of  '61,  but  when  the  call 
came  in  '98,  we  found  that  the  boys  of  to-day  responded  just 
as  promptly  and  served  just  as  faithfully  as  did  the  men  in 
the  Civil  War.  We,  who  fought  in  the  war  of  the  Rebellion, 
were  anxious  that  if  possible  the  war  with  Spain  might  be 
averted.  No  man,  who  has  ever  been  actually  engaged  in 
battle,  is  anxious  to  pass  through  it  again,  but  when  the 
President  issued  his  proclamation  and  the  call  came,  we  old 
boys  stood  solidly  behind  him  and  said  to  the  young  men, — 
"Go  ahead,  but  if  you  can't  whip  them  send  for  us  and  we 
will  come  and  help  you  out." 

In  the  war  of  the  Rebellion  the  soldier  hated  nothing 
more  than  the  man  who  stayed  at  home  and  found  fault. 
Nothing  gave  aid  and  comfort  to  the  enemy  so  much  as  the 
cry  that  the  war  was  a  failure  and  ought  to  cease.  The 
-same  is  true  to-day.  The  boys  who  are  fighting  in  the  far- 
off  Philippines  and  in  China  need  the  encouragement  of  all 
the  loyal  people.  They  are  wearing  the  same  uniform  and 
'following  the  same  flag  as  did  the  soldiers  whom  you  honor 
•l)y  your  toast  to-day,  and  let  us  at  all  times  give  them  nothing 


Residence  of  ISAAC    M.    WOOj^UkV, 

"BIRCHMONT,"   residence  of   ALBERT   A.    CONANT, 

Residence  of  WILLIAM    H.    HERRICK, 


TWO   HUNDRED   AND    FIFTIETH   ANNIVERSARY.  8 1 

but  encouraging  words,  and  wait  until  after  peace  is  declared 
before  we  undertake  to  settle  questions  growing  out  of  the 
war. 

The  Toast-master: — The  next  speaker  will  tell  us  about 
"fifty  years  ago."  He  will  stand  on  the  threshold  between 
the  present  and  the  past.  And  this  reminds  me  of  an  adver- 
tisement which  I  read  some  time  ago.  "Wanted,  a  man 
partly  behind  the  counter  and  partly  out  of  doors."  Query : 
what  will  happen  when  the  door  slams? 

We  promise  to  hold  the  door  for  our  brother  while  he 
leads  us  back  to  the  days  of  our  fathers. 

With  pleasure  I  present  Mr.  Albert  A.  Conant  of 
Topsfield. 

''The  Survivors  of  the  Last  Celebration^ 


ADDRESS  OF  MR.  ALBERT  A.  CONANT. 


The  magnetic  half-century  festival  brings  back  the 
survivors  of  our  last  anniversary  with  the  freshness  of  youth 
yet  on  their  brows.  "Still  lovely  in  their  strength  as  is  the 
light  of  a  dark  eye  in  woman.  Time  writes  no  wrinkles  on 
their  brows.  Eternal  summer  gilds  them  yet,  and  they  wait 
the  softening;  overpowering  knell,  the  tocsin  of  the  soul — the 
dinner  bell." 

We  can  enumerate  living  in  our  midst  a  large  number, 
many  of  whom  are  present  today,  who  were  born  in  the  first 
and  second  decades  of  the  nineteenth  century  and  their  length- 
ened scores  of  years  are  crowned  with  that  peace  of  mind 
which  is  the  recompense  for  well  spent  lives. 


82  THE  TOWN    OF   TOPSFIELD. 

The  names  of  those  who  were  principals  in  our  last 
anniversary  celebration  have  to-day  come  back  to  us  to  be 
honored  and  loved ;  they  are  Balch,  Batchelder,  Cleaveland, 
Conant,  Gould,  Hood,  Kimball,  Lake,  Merriam,  Peabody 
and  Perkins. 

To  the  fair  sex  who  bore  a  prominent  part  in  our  last 
celebration  we  would  pay  a  tribute  of  respect,  and  I  quote 
from  an  old  writer  who  said :  "O  woman  !  lovely  woman  ! 
Nature  made  thee  to  temper  man ;  we  had  been  brutes 
without  you.  Angels  are  painted  fair,  to  look  like  you. 
There  is  in  you  all  that  we  believe  of  heaven;  amazing 
brightness,  puritv  and  truth,  eternal  joy  and  everlasting 
love." 


The  Toast-master: — My  earliest  recollection  of  the  next 
speaker  was  of  cousin  John  in  the  East  School-house  reading, 
with  a  voice  I  shall  never  forget,  Isaac  McLellan's  patriotic 
lines.  "New  England's  dead  !  New  England's  dead  !  On 
every  hill  they  lie,"  etc. 

He  was  to  me,  a  child  commencing  school  life,  an  ideal. 
But  what  grander  ideals  he  has  reached  since  that  time  of 
beginnings.  His  success  for  many  years  as  scholar  and 
teacher  in  Essex  County  is  known  to  this  assembly.  He  will 
speak  for  the  non-resident  sons  of  Topsfield.  Mr.  John  W. 
Perkins,  Superintendent  of  the  Public  Schools  of  Salem. 

''The  Non-Resident  Sons  of  Topsfield ^ 


THE    THOMAS    W.    PEIRCE    ESTATE. 


ADDRESS  OF  MR.  JOHN  W.  PERKINS. 


Mr.  Toast-master  and  Friends  new  and  old  of  the  town 
of  Topsfield: — In  the  old  familiar  song  to  which  so  many 
thousands  have  often  listened  with  moistened  eyes  and  melt- 
ing hearts  we  are  told  again  and  again  with  pathetic  iteration 
"Be  it  ever  so  humble,  there  is  no  place  like  home."  And 
what  words  shall  fittingly  express  one's  attachment  for  the 
old  home  when  it  is  one  to  which  not  only  the  returning 
native  but  also  the  passing  traveller  and  the  transient  visitor 
have  again  and  again  given  the  name  of  the  fairest  of  the 
fair,  the  loveliest  among  the  most  lovely. 

It  is  natural  that  to  the  native  who  continues  to  live 
among  the  scenes  of  his  childhood  they  should  come  to  seem 
somewhat  commonplace  however  striking  they  may  be.  But 
speaking  from  my  own  experience  as  well  as  from  the 
testimony  repeatedly  given  me  by  other  non-resident  sons 
of  Topsfield,  I  have  to  say  that  the  power  of  her  beauty 
grows  upon  us  with  every  returning  visit.  I  have  a  pleasing 
assurance  that  this  impression  is  grounded  upon  something 
more  substantial  than  the  unconscious  associations  of  early 
memories  in  the  fact  that  my  children,  all  of  whom  were 
born  and,  except  for  occasional  visits,  have  always  lived 
elsewhere,  heartily  join  with  me  and  endorse  my  increasing 
appreciation  of  the  old  town.  But  those  of  us  who  were 
nurtured  in  her  lap  and  trained  at  her  feet,  whose  views  of 
life  and  principles  of  action  have  been  largely  modified  by 
the  ideals  which  we  were  here  taught  to  reverence,  feel  that 
the  debt  of  gratitude  which  we  owe  her  for  her  virtues  surpasses 
that  of  admiration  for  her  outward  attractions. 

(83) 


84  THE   TOWN    OF  TOPSFIELD. 

We  read  the  opening  lines  of  that  simple  but  immortal 
poem,  "The  Deserted  Village,"  by  Oliver  Goldsmith,  and,  as 
we  follow  his  vivid  deliniation  of  the  pictures  and  innocent 
pastimes  of  the  rural  scene,  we  feel  and  count  it  a  privilege 
that  we  can  feel  that  with  a  few  minor  and  superficial  changes 
we  have  seen  it  all,  we  were  once  a  part  of  it  all  here.  And 
as  the  poet  goes  on  to  portray  the  prominent  personalities 
of  his  beloved  Auburn,  again  we  feel  that,  in  strongly  pro- 
nounced individuality,  in  intellectual  vigor,  in  sincere,  helpful 
and  practical  religious  faith  we  have  here  seen  their  counter- 
parts. It  would  be  a  pleasant  service,  briefly  to  sketch 
characteristics  of  those  who  were  leading  members  of  this  com- 
munity fifty  years  ago,  and  who  bore,  each  his  part  in  making 
the  celebration  of  that  year  the  conspicuous  success  that  it 
proved  to  be.  But  time  forbids  that  I  should  even  enter 
upon  the  honorable  list  of  noble  men  and  noble  women, 
whom  to  meet  was  to  respect,  whom  to  know  was  to  honor, 
and  whose  memory  is  forever  with  us  a  precious  legacy. 

Reference  has  been  made  here  and  very  fittingly  and 
truthfully  made  to  the  interest  which  the  town  has  ever  taken 
in  the  local  system  of  education.  But  there  is  another  field 
of  education  in  which  her  record  is  one  of  which  she  may 
well  be  proud.  To  more  than  a  common  degree  has  she 
shown  herself  interested  in  the  so-called  higher  education. 
For  many  successive  years  in  this  last  half  century  one  or 
more  of  her  sons  has  been  found  in  college  or  in  the  higher 
professional  schools.  So  it  naturally  comes  about  today 
that  we  find  them  in  all  the  so-called  learned  professions  as 
well  as  holding  leading  and  honorable  positions  in  business 
and  in  industrial  pursuits  in  other  municipalities  and  in 
other  states.  But  whatever  may  be  their  occupation  and 
where  ever  may  be  their  home,  today  they  return  at  least  in 
thought  to  hover  upon  the  wings  of  memory  over  this  the 
beloved  nesting-place  of  their  childhood. 

I  believe  that  we  should  try  to  keep  within  the  five 
minutes  allotted  to  these  several  parts  of  our  programme ; 
but  in  doing  so  it  is,  of  course,  impossible  to  do  more  than 
briefly  hint  at  a  few  of  the  many  things  one  would  so  much 
like  to  say. 

A    few    years  ago  I  attended  a   memorial   service  of  a 


go 


o 


CL    O 


2  z 

-J  o 

O  P 

X  < 

.  o 

^  o 


TWO    HUNDRED   AND   FIFTIETH   ANNIVERSARY.  85 

church  in  another  country  town  of  this  county.  On  that  occa- 
sion some  remarks  were  made  by  a  gentleman  of  honorable 
fame  won  upon  the  field  of  battle  and  in  the  halls  of  Congress, 
a  man  whom  we  of  this  vicinity  for  years  delighted  to  honor 
and  to  whose  successor  we  have  been  this  day  delighted  to 
listen.  This  man  in  the  course  of  his  address  testified  that 
whatever  he  might  have  accomplished  that  was  worthy  of 
merit,  was  due,  more  than  anything  else,  to  the  early 
instruction  which  he  had  there  received ;  that  whatever 
mistakes  he  had  made,  and  he  confessed  to  have  made  his 
share,  had  been  due  to  his  departure  from  the  principles 
which  were  there  inculcated.  And  in  a  similar  spirit,  Mr. 
Toast-master  and  Friends,  we  the  non-resident  sons  of 
Topsfield,  today,  reverently  bring  our  tribute  of  thanksgiving, 
that  our  early  lot  was  cast  in  a  community  whose  civil, 
educational,  religious  and  domestic  life  typified  and,  as  we 
believe,  in  an  eminent  degree,  illustrated  the  best  of  those  old 
fashioned  but  eternal  truths  that  have  pervaded  and  adorned 
New  England  history. 


The  Toast-master: — Topsfield  is  covered  with  honor 
today.  What  jewels  are  in  her  crown  !  Governors,  Senators, 
Congressmen,  followers  of  the  learned  professions,  instructors, 
patriots,  and  a  host  from  every  noble  vocation.  Surely  the 
next  speaker  has  no  mean  subject,  and  he  will  give  us  a 
purely  "cream"  toast. 

The  Hon.  Augustus  P.  Gardner,  member  of  the  Mass- 
achusetts Senate,  will  represent  our  distinguished  guests 
from  neighboring  towns. 

''Distinguished  Guests  From  Neighboring  Towns!' 


ADDRESS  OF  HON.  AUGUSTUS  P.  GARDNER. 


It  was  with  very  great  pleasure  at  first  that  I  contemplated 
the  invitation  from  your  chairman  to  be  present  at  this  banquet 
and  share  the  fatted  calf  with  your  returning  prodigals  ;  but 
on  further  examination  I  found  that  my  enjoyment  was  to 
be  modified  by  the  necessity  of  delivering  an  address ;  on  no 
account,  as  your  chairman  put  it,  to  exceed  five  minutes. 

That  it  was  the  town  of  Hamilton,  from  which  a  repre- 
sentative was  chosen  to  respond  to  this  toast,  I  look  upon 
as  a  tribute  from  extreme  old  age  to  extreme  youth ;  of  the 
older  sister  Topsfield,  now  passing  her  250th  milestone,  to  a 
blushing  maiden  of  some  one  hundred  summers,  the  town  of 
Hamilton. 

It  is  always  a  pleasure  for  Hamilton  people  to  come  to 
Topsfield,  and  I  for  one  always  enjoy  it,  particularly  as  I 
think  Topsfield  the  most  beautiful  place  in  the  world.  I  think 
her  daughters  the  fairest  and  her  sons  the  bravest  of  all  the 
children  of  Adam. 

Perhaps  I  may  have  made  a  somewhat  similar  statement 
in  the  town  of  Ipswich.  I  am  quite  certain  that  I  have  paid 
this  same  compliment  to  my  own  town  ;  but  it  is  true  in  each 
instance  and  no  insincerity  should  be  imputed  to  me.  Where- 
ever  I  go  in  Essex  County,  I  think  it  the  most  beautiful 
country  I  have  ever  seen.  I  think  its  sons  the  bravest  and 
its  women  the  fairest,  just  as  the  traveler,  no  matter  what 
part  of  the  world  he  is  in,  sees  the  zenith  directly  overhead. 

You  are  two  hundred  and  fifty  years  old  and  we  are 
only  one  hundred  and  seven,  yet  I  regard  the  town  of 
Hamilton  as  your  sister  and,  to  all  intents  and  purposes,  your 
twin  sister.  It  is  true  that  it  was  only  in  1793  that  we 
separated  from  the  mother  town  of  Ipswich ;  but  we  were 
clearing  our  hills  when  the  settlers  of  Topsfield  were  clearing 
their  hills. 


(S6) 


^^         ^m   ^^^ 

■^ 

M^m  4    ig   .'^.  ^ 

Jii^^lL 

^.-  i  M 

ftj^jm 

^^^^ 

^^^^^^^'^M^^^^^^^^^^^l 

Residence  of  PERCY   CHASE, 

Residence  of    MRS,    C    J.    THAYER, 

Residence  of  J,    M.    MEREDITH, 


TWO    HUNDRED   AND    FIFTIETH    ANNIVERSARY.  8/ 

The  inhabitants  of  those  two  towns,  working  side  by- 
side,  laid  out  that  road  yonder,  straight  over  hill  and  dale, 
turning  neither  to  the  right  nor  to  the  left.  It  is  called  the 
Newburyport  Turnpike  and  it  stretches  from  Saugus  to 
Newburyport,  as  straight  and  unwavering  as  the  Puritan 
character  itself. 

I  like  to  picture  those  men  of  old  as  they  grappled  with 
nature,  hewing  their  path  as  the  crow  flies,  regardless  where 
the  chips  might  fall. 

From  your  twin  sister,  I  bring  you  this  message: — This 
is  her  highest  hope;  that  when  she  has  reached  her  250th 
year,  she  may  be  as  young  and  fair  as  you  and  like  you  may- 
be able  to  look  back  and  say:  "I  have  preserved  the  Puritan 
character.  I  still  raise  sons  and  daughters  who  look  the 
world  squarely  in  the  face  and  ask  favors  from  no  one." 


The  T^oast-m aster: — Although  he  has  so  eloquently 
addressed  us  in  the  morning  exercises  his  friends  and 
constituents  crave  a  few  words  from  Mr.  William  H.  Moody. 
Will  the  Honorable  Member  of  Congress  please  favor  us? 

After  Mr.  Moody's  speech  the  toast-master  remarked — 
'*A  man  who  can  speak  like  that,  not  knowing  that  he  is  to  be 
called,  will  be  remembered  not  many  months  hence." 


ADDRESS  OF  HON.  WILLIAM  H.  MOODY. 


Mr.  Chairman: — This  was  not  nominated  in  the  bond; 
neither  in  the  bond  which  I  gave  to  you  nor  in  the  bond  of 
courteous  attention  which  you  returned  to  me.  It  is  an 
imposition  upon  you  for  me  to  take  more  of  your  time  on 
this  occasion.  I  have  already  had  this  morning  too  much. 
Yet  I  cannot  decHne  to  respond  for  a  single  moment  to  the 
courtesy  of  this  gathering  which  gave  me  this  morning  so 
pleasant  a  greeting  and  has  repeated  it  at  this  time.  But  I 
trust  the  few  words  I  shall  speak  will  be  entirely  within  the 
thermometer  limit  which  has  been  prescribed  to  us  all. 
Moreover  the  same  reason  that  compelled  our  distinguished 
junior  Senator  to  respond  to  your  invitation  controls  me. 
As  he  is,  so  am  I,  of  the  crop  of  your  ground  in  Essex  County. 
I  was  born  upon  its  soil  in  the  town  of  Newbury,  upon  a  farm 
where  my  ancestors  settled  twenty-five  years  before  the 
charter  of  the  town  of  Topsfield  was  granted,  and  where  they 
had  lived  a  life  of  honorable  toil  from  that  day  to  the  day  of 
my  birth.  I  have  served  the  people  of  this  County  in  one 
capacity  or  another  according  to  the  best  of  my  ability  for  a 
decade.  Any  man  who  represents  people  such  as  those  who 
dwell  in  this  County,  in  any  capacity  or  in  any  place,  rests 
under  a  great  responsibility.  The  standard  which  they  have 
prescribed  for  him  is  a  high  one  indeed,  and  he  is  held  to  it 
by  the  character  of  the  people  and  the  history  of  those  who 
have  preceded  him  in  the  public  service.  He  cannot  escape 
mistakes  and  must  realize  fully  that  he  is  to  be  judged  by  an 
intelligent  constituency. 

It  is  said  that  the  town  of  Topsfield  has  not  grown  ;  that 
it  still  contains  but  a  thousand  people.  It  is  true  enough 
that  New  England  has  not  grown  so  fast  in  mere  numbers 
as  some  of  the  Middle  and  Western   States.     She  no  longer 

(88) 


'THE    KNOLLS,"   residence  of   GILBERT    B,    BALCH, 
"THE    OAKS,"   RESIDENCE  OF  ARTHUR    A,    CLARKE. 


TWO    HUNDRED   AND    FIFTIETH    ANNIVERSARY.  89 

controls  in  the  Council  of  the  nation  as  she  did  in  years  gone 
by.  She  seems  but  a  small  part  of  our  great  nation  in  these 
modern  days.  But,  though  she  cannot  control  by  numbers, 
she  can  and  has  controlled  the  destinies  of  this  country  by 
her  ideals,  and  to-day  she  is  ruling  the  land  through  the 
institutions  which  she  has  implanted  everywhere  from  sea  to 
sea. 

It  has  been  eloquently  said  that  there  are  evils  in  the 
politics  of  the  day.  We  all  know  it.  We  all  realize  it  full 
well.  Yet  this  is  not  happening  for  the  first  time.  There 
were  evils  in  the  body  politic  two  hundred  and  fifty  years 
ago,  small  as  that  body  was.  There  have  been  evils  from 
that  day  to  this  and  there  will  be  evils  in  all  the  future  time. 
But  there  have  always  been  men  ready  to  fight  those  evils  to 
their  death  and  I  trust  that  there  always  will  be  such  men. 
Evils  do  not  cure  themselves,  nor  countries  govern  them- 
selves ;  it  is  through  men  of  capacity,  of  courage,  honesty, 
and  power,  that  evils  are  cured  and  that  successful  govern- 
ment becomes  possible.  So  long  as  the  country  can  continue 
to  produce  men  of  this  kind  we  may  feel  sure  that  we  can 
accomplish  the  splendid  destiny  which  we  believe  awaits  our 
people. 


The  Toast-master: — It  was  the  sentiment  of  Daniel 
Webster  that  "whatever  else  may  tend  to  enrich  and  beautify 
society,  that  which  feeds  and  clothes  comfortably  the  mass 
of  mankind  should  always  be  regarded  as  the  foundation  of 
national  prosperity."  Bread  and  meat  and  clothing  are  the 
great  factors  in  material  civilization.  Topsfield  has  been  the 
birthplace  of  several  societies,  but  none  more  important  than 
that  which  fosters  the  agricultural  welfare  of  the  people. 

We  are  fortunate  in  our  speakers  upon  this  topic.  We 
shall  hear  first  from  the  Hon.  George  von  L.  Meyer, 
President  of  the  Essex  Agricultural  Society  on 

''Topsfield  the  Birthplace  of  the  Essex  Agricultural  Society!' 


ADDRESS  OF  HON.  CEORGE  von  L.  MEYER. 


Mr.  Chairman,  Ladies  and  Gentlemen: — I  desire  to  con- 
gratulate the  citizens  of  Topsfield  upon  celebrating  the  two 
hundred  and  fiftieth  anniversary  of  its  incorporation.  It  also 
gives  me  great  pleasure,  as  President  of  the  Essex  Agricul- 
tural Society,  to  respond  for  that  Society ;  for  it  was  here 
that  Timothy  Pickering  and  his  distinguished  associates  held 
the  first  meeting  under  the  auspices  of  the  Essex  Agricultural 
Society. 

In  those  days  it  possibly  meant  more  to  the  farmers 
than  today,  for  it  was  used  not  only  as  an  occasion  to 
exhibit,  but  to  exchange  and  sell  their  cattle  and  produce. 

Since  then  the  Society  has  continued  the  annual  exhibits, 
always  endeavoring  to  further  the  interests  of  the  farmer, 
and  to  demonstrate  the  possibilities  of  agriculture  in  Essex 
County. 

It  has  enrolled  in  its  membership  many  of  the  most 
distinguished  names  in  Essex  County,  and  an  orator  at  its 
annual  meeting  described  the  prize-list  as  reading  like  the 
lists  of  marriages  and  births  in  the  records  of  the  old  churches 
in  Essex  County. 

While  other  towns  in  our  County  have  outstripped 
Topsfield  in  growth,  and  some  have  become  cities,  yet 
Topsfield  has  a  charm  and  attraction  which  in  itself  gives  it 
identity,  and  well  may  it  be  called  the  Switzerland  of  Essex 
County. 


The  Toast-master: — And  now  I  introduce  the  President 
of  the  Massachusetts  Horticultural  Society  :  General  Francis 
H.  Appleton. 

(90) 


SMITH'S    HOTEL.  Res;DENCE  of   MRS.    E.    7/.    HUTCH  INGS 

THE    STANWOOD    SCHOOL  AND    HOME. 


ADDRESS  OF  GEN.  FRANCIS  H.  APPLETON. 


On  Monday  the  i6th  of  February,  i8i8,  at  Cyrus 
Cumming's  tavern  in  this  historic  town  of  Topsfield,  there 
assembled  "a  meeting  of  farmers  and  others,  inhabitants  of 
the  County,  for  the  purpose  of  forming  an  Agricultural 
Society."  The  following  patriotic  citizens,  loyal  to  the  best 
interests  of  the  County,  were  appointed  at  that  meeting  a 
committee  to  report  a  plan  of  organization.  They  were : 
Ichabod  Tucker,  lawyer;  David  Cummings,  lawyer;  Paul 
Kent,  farmer;  John  Adams,  farmer;  and  Elias  Mack,  lawyer. 

Their  recommendation  was  at  once  adopted,  and  Colonel 
Timothy  Pickering  was  chosen  President,  with  a  full  list  of 
ofificers.  Colonel  Pickering  had  previously,  and  soon  after 
the  close  of  the  Revolutionary  War,  been  intimately  and 
actively  associated  with  General  Washington,  in  establishing 
State  societies  for  the  Promotion  of  Agriculture,  and  was 
well  fitted  to  lead  the  new  Society. 

Those  men,  then  at  the  Topsfield  tavern,  realized  the 
importance  to  the  County,  at  that  early  period,  of  the  best 
kind  of  agricultural  development;  and  they  knew  well  what 
both  County  and  State  then  needed  most  for  agricultural 
development,  in  order  to  help  promote  general  prosperity. 

They  planned  to  promote  better  methods  of  agriculture, 
to  secure  improved  live-stock,  and  to  provide  quicker,  and 
better,  markets  for  our  home-grown  products  of  all  kinds. 
Today  we  find  the  times  greatly  changed,  with  surrounding 
possibilities  wonderfully  extended,  but  the  need  of  more 
scientific  agriculture  upon  our  farms  still  exists.  The  Gov- 
ernment has  established  Departments  of  Agriculture,  and  their 
incorporated  Institutions  of  learning  exist,  all  of  which  meet 
the  needs  of  agriculture,  if  properly  taken  advantage  of  by 
our  cultivators. 

(91) 


92 


THE  TOWN    OF   TOPSFIELD. 


The  Essex  Agricultural  Society  exists  today,  to  the 
credit  of  its  birthplace,  ready  to  be  useful,  and  to  meet 
today's  requirements  in  as  up-to-date  a  way  as  is  possible, 
by  its  Annual  Fair  in  September,  and  by  its  Institutes  of 
instruction  in  Winter ;  but  the  personal  efforts  and  interest 
of  our  land-owners  are  essential  to  attain  best  results.  Farm- 
ing is  being  greatly  intensified,  and  horticultural  methods  are 
necessary  to  make  field  work  most  profitable.  Great  sums 
of  money  are  being  expended  annually  in  support  of  the 
work  of  the  Agricultural  Department  at  Washington  (exten- 
sive and  useful  work),  also  the  Nation,  States  and  Territories 
join  in  appropriating  large  amounts  of  money  for  the  support 
of  State  and  Territorial  agricultural  experiment  stations  and 
Colleges,  to  which  I  have  referred. 

May  such  expenditures  continue  to  show  themselves  to 
be  a  wise  investment,  and  may  a  full  share  of  the  results  from 
these  large  outlays  of  money  be  brought  to  aid  in  promoting 
the  agricultural  prosperity  of  our  County  of  Essex ;  and 
may  the  good  work,  begun  here  in  1818,  continue  for  many 
a  year  to  be  helpful. 

May  Topsfield — the  birthplace  of  the  Agricultural  So- 
ciety, and  the  home  of  its  farm — grow  and  profit  by  the 
introduction  of  all  kinds  of  better  agriculture,  may  methods 
of  farming  advance,  may  her  live-stock  benefit,  may  she 
profit  in  market-gardening,  in  her  arboriculture,  in  her  roads 
and  road-sides,  in  her  landscape  architecture,  by  the  building 
of  more  homes  upon  her  hills  and  along  her  road-sides. 
May  she  have  more  industries  of  these,  and  such  other,  kinds 
as  may  best  help  her.  All  to  the  benefit  of  her  people  of 
today  and  of  the  future,  and  as  an  example  that  is  worthy  of 
being  followed. 

May  our  people  have  reason  to  be  grateful  that  the 
Essex  Agricultural  Society  was  organized  at  Topsfield,  and 
that  it  continues  to  live.  May  Topsfield,  with  her  many 
natural  attractions,  continue  to  develop,  and  prosper. 


ODD    FELLOW'S    BUILDING  and  residence    of   GEORGE    FRANCIS    DOW. 
Residence  and  store  of  JOSEPH    B,    POOR. 


TWO    HUNDRED    AND    FIFTIETH    ANNIVERSARY.  93 

The  Toast-master: — In  the  year  1800  there  were  only 
three  newspapers  taken  in  Topsfield.  One  copy  was  taken 
by  Dr.  Cleaveland,  another  by  Jacob  Towne  and  the  third 
was  subscribed  for  by  the  residents  of  the  ''Colleges"  in  the 
eastern  part  of  the  town.  By  the  way,  some  of  us  may  not 
know  how  distinguished  our  town  is  abroad.  For  nearly  a 
century  the  people  of  other  towns,  and  cities,  have  talked 
about  not  only  the  "Colleges,"  but  the  Topsfield  "navy-yard," 
and  the  "brick  steamer,"  wondering  when  that  noble  vessel 
will  be  finished.  I  am  unable  to  answer  for  I  have  made  no 
inspection  of  the  "navy"  or  of  the  "ship-building"  interest. 
But  of  this  let  us  be  assured,  that  when  the  steamer  is  ready 
for  launching  we  shall  all  be  here  for  a  celebration. 

Mr.  Edwin  O.  Foster,  of  Salem,  will  serve  the  last  toast: 

''The  Press r 


ADDRESS  OF  MR.  EDWIN  O.  FOSTER. 


Mr.  President  and  Friends: — It  affords  me  great  pleasure 
to  meet  with  you,  yet  this  occasion  is  one  of  sadness  as  well 
as  gladness  to  me.  Nearly  forty  years  ago  I  left  this  pictur- 
esque village  with  little  thought  of  the  value  of  my  early 
friends,  but  as  I  walked  these  streets  today,  and  memory 
recalls  the  old  familiar  faces,  my  heart  is  sad  that  many 
whom  I  had  known  and  who  were  kind  to  me  had  finished 
their  mission  on  earth. 

Of  the  prominent  men  at  that  time.  Rev.  Anson  McLoud, 
Benjamin  P.  Adams,  Charles  Herrick,  Frederick  Merriam, 
Ariel  Gould,  and  many  others  equally  conspicuous  in  the 
affairs  of  this  town,  have  passed  away.     Yes,  nearly  all  who 


94  THE   TOWN    OF  TOPSFIELD. 

were  factors  in  making  this  community  forty  and  fifty  years 
ago,  a  power,  have  gone.  But  I  am  pleased  to  know  that 
many  of  my  early  schoolmates  have  ably  assumed  the  duties 
incident  to  a  progressive  town,  and  whether  it  be  in  the 
management  of  government  affairs  or  in  educational  and 
moral  work,  they  are  exemplifying  the  same  influences  for 
good  as  the  active  men  of  four  decades  ago. 

Topsfield  is  my  birthplace,  and  I  received  my  education 
in  the  one-story  schoolhouse  which  stood  near  the  site  of  the 
present  town  hall.  Yes,  it  pleases  me  to  return  to  the  scenes 
of  my  childhood  as  the  homes  are  as  inviting  and  beautiful 
as  of  yore,  the  people  as  noble  and  generous  as  when  I  left 
here  forty  years  ago. 

In  this  good  old  town  many  of  the  lessons  and  good 
impressions  that  have  proved  of  inestimable  value  to  me  were 
received.  It  was  in  yonder  Congregational  Church  that  I 
first  attended  religious  services  and  Sunday  School,  and  I 
recall  with  pleasure  the  instructions  given  me  by  the  devout 
teacher,  who  has  passed  away. 

Fifty  years  ago,  when  this  town  observed  its  two  hun- 
dredth anniversary  there  was  not  a  paper  in  the  country 
that  deemed  the  event  of  sufficient  importance  to  assign 'a 
representative  here,  or  to  publish  an  account  of  the  celebra- 
tion on  the  following  day.  This  may  seem  remarkable  from 
the  fact  that  there  is  not  a  daily  paper  in  New  England  this 
afternoon  but  has,  to  a  greater  or  less  extent,  a  story  of  the 
celebration  we  are  enjoying.  Then,  there  was  neither  tele- 
graph nor  telephone,  and  the  stage  coach  was  the  only  public 
conveyance  that  the  good  people  had  in  forwarding  and 
bringing  news  by  letter.  Now,  through  the  agency  of  electric 
force,  despatches  are  forwarded  to  all  parts  of  the  country 
almost  as  fast  as  the  words  are  uttered  by  the  speaker,  and, 
frequently,  when  addresses  are  written,  in  advance  of  the 
verbal  delivery. 

This  celebration,  Mr.  President,  will  result  in  great 
benefit  to  Topsfield.  The  town  has  been  advertised  and  its 
varied  beauties  and  attractions  made  known  to  the  world. 
Far  and  wide  the  fact  is  known  that  this  town  is  charming  in 
its  situation  and  natural  beauty  and  exceptionally  desirable 
for  residence.     And,  today,  this  home   coming   of   the   sons 


'THE   WOODBINE,"    residence  of  C    FRED   JORDAN,   erected  i808, 

"THE    LARCHES,"     residence    of    MISS    C.    ELLEN    PERKINS, 
The  site  of  the  Oid  Topstield   Hotel, 


TWO    HUNDRED   AND   FIFTIETH   ANNIVERSARY.  95 

and  daughters  will  stimulate  pride  in  their  birthplace  and 
prompt  all  to  herald  praises  of  the  town.  Strangers  will  hear 
the  refrain,  and  will  come  here  to  establish  homes  upon  the 
hillsides,  and  in  the  valley  with  its  winding  and  beautifully 
shaded  streets. 

Already  the  valuation  of  this  town  has  been  enhanced  by 
others  than  native  born,  as  the  elegant  summer  residences 
occupied  by  Boston  and  Salem  business  men  and  their 
families  attest. 

The  town  is  certain  to  increase  in  wealth  as  the  years 
roll  on,  owing  to  the  advent  of  summer  residents,  and  during 
the  present  year  real  estate  has  been  enhanced  $50,000, 
largely  through  the  establishment  of  country  homes.  The 
outlook  for  this  pastoral  town  is  certainly  auspicious. 

In  closing,  permit  me  to  acclaim  that  it  is  a  pleasure  to 
be  present  today  to  enjoy  the  festivities  in  commemoration  of 
the  two  hundred  and  fiftieth  anniversary  of  the  incorporation 
of  this  historic  and  beautiful  town. 


''Closing  Sentiment  by  the  President' 


God  bless  the  old  town  of  Topsfield.  God  save  the 
Commonwealth  of  Massachusetts.  God  perpetuate  the  glory 
of  the  United  States. 


THE  PROCESSION. 


''Notwithstanding  that  in  general,  things  postponed  are 
not  as  successful,  the  Topsfield  celebration  must  be  the 
exception  that  proves  the  rule,  for  the  postponed  parade  and 
sports,  with  fireworks  in  the  evening,  proved  a  splendid 
success  in  every  way. 

It  was  estimated  that  fully  five  thousand  people  witnessed 
the  day's  festivities.  They  came  from  all  over  the  county, 
by  train  and  private  and  public  conveyance.  There  was  a 
slight  delay  in  starting  the  different  events,  but  this,  in  a 
measure,  was  due  to  the  absence  of  Thomas  W.  Peirce,  Chief 
Marshal  of  the  parade  and  Chairman  of  the  Sports  Committee, 
who  was  suddenly  taken  ill  on  Thursday  evening. 

It  was  a  great  disappointment  and  source  of  deep  regret, 
for  Mr.  Peirce  had  worked  very  hard,  until  he  had  every 
detail  arranged.  Paul  R.  Kimball  filled  his  position  very 
acceptably.  The  parade  did  not  start  until  nearly  three 
o'clock.  The  Salem  Cadets  arrived  just  before  two  o'clock, 
coming  from  Boxford  Camp  by  special  train,  and  marched 
to  the  head  of  Main  and  Haverhill  streets,  the  starting 
point. 

The  line  of  march  followed  was  Main  street.  Summer 
street,  Central  street,  Main  street,  Washington  street,  Grove 
street,  and  Main  street  to  the  reviewing  stand,  which  was 
located  on  the  Common  directly  opposite  the  Congregational 
Church. 

The  Cadets  wore  their  regulation  blue  uniforms,  and 
looked  business-like  with  their  rich  coat  of  tan  from  their 
week  spent  in  camp. 

The  different  features  were  excellent,  combining  to  make 
a  fine  display,  worthy  of  the  town. 

(96) 


TWO    HUNDRED    AND    FIFTIETH    ANNIVERSARY.  97 

During  the  whole  day  not  an  accident  was  reported. 
This  is  remarkable,  when  it  is  considered  that  hundreds  of 
carriages  and  scores  of  horses  were  moving  about  constantly 
among  the  pedestrians. 

The  fireworks  given  on  the  Common  in  the  evening 
were  witnessed  by  nearly  three  thousand  people.  They  were 
beautiful  in  effect,  one  of  the  set-pieces  being  **Two  Hundred 
and  Fiftieth  Anniverary  of  Topsfield,"  in  different  colored 
fires.  There  were  a  number  of  set-pieces,  but  the  last  one, 
which  said  **Good  night,"  was  the  most  beautiful.  The  dis- 
play lasted  over  an  hour,  and  closed  the  day's  celebration. 
Taken  as  a  whole  the  Two  Hundred  and  Fiftieth  Anniversary 
Celebration  of  'New  Meadows'  or  Topsfield,  will  go  down 
into  history  as  a  splendid  success  and  a  great  credit  to  all 
who  had  anything  to  do  with  it." 

Salem  News,  Atigtist  i8,  igoo. 


Ch\ief   Marslial. 
PAUL  R.  KIMBALL. 

Chlef-of-Staff. 
THOMAS  L.  JENKINS,  M.  D. 

Aids. 

P.  Joseph  Collins.  C.  Fred.  Jordan. 

J.  H.  Cunningham,  Jr.  Fred  J.  Lamson. 

Albert  M.  Dodge.  William  A.  Russell. 

E.  Brooks  Edwards.  Melvin  F.  Smerage. 

Warren  F.  Gould.  C.  von  Tongen. 

Ralph  D.  Hood.  Elton  E.  Wildes. 
Andy  F.  Jackman. 


98  THE  TOWN   OF  TOPSFIELD. 

FIRST  DIVISION. 

Marshal. 
DUDLEY  P.  ROGERS. 

Aids. 
John  L.  Fiske.  James  A.  Gould. 

SALEM    CADET   BAND,    24   PIECES. 

Jean  M.  Missud,  Bandmaster. 

SECOND    CORPS    CADETS. 
Lieut.  Col.  Walter  F.  Peck,  commanding;  Maj.  Andrew  Fitz. 

STAFF. 

Lieut.  H.  A.  Titus,  Adjutant;    Maj.  William  Voss,  Surgeon; 

Lieut.  E.  A.  Maloon,  Paymaster ;    Rev.  E.  J.  Pres- 

cott,  Chaplain  ;   Lieut.  William  R.  Graves, 

Battery  L,  First  Heavy  Artillery. 

Co.  A,  Capt.  Philip  Little ;  Lieut.  George  E.  Symonds. 

Co.   D,  Capt.   P.   Frank   Packard ;  Lieut.  J.  N.  Clark. 

Co.  B,  Capt.  A.  N.  Webb ;  Lieut.  Edward  T.  Graham ; 
Lieut.  Frank  S.  Perkins, 

Co.  C,  Capt.  John  E.  Spencer;   Lieut.  C.  F.  Ropes; 
Lieut.  Harry  R.  Peach. 

NON-COMMISSIONED   STAFF. 

Color  Sergeants  H.  P.  Nourse,  Francis  A.  Cook ;    Quarter- 
master-Sergeant J.  Clarke  Brown;   Sergeant  Major 
Henry  R.  Leach ;   Hospital  Steward 
E.  A.  Doyle. 


TWO   HUNDRED   AND    FIFTIETH   ANNIVERSARY.  99 

CARRIAGES  WITH  TOWN  OFFICIALS  AND  INVITED  GUESTS. 

Baxter  P.  Pike,  George  Francis  Dow,   Rev.  George  H.  Per- 
kins, John  Danforth,  Wellington  Donaldson,  A.  T.  Merrill, 
George  F.  Averell,  Rev.  W.  N.  Roberts,  Rev.  H.  J.  Wyckoff, 
William  Perkins,  Isaac  M.  Woodbury,  J.  B.   Poor,  Wel- 
lington Poole,  Hon.  Samuel  L.  Sawyer,  S.  D.  Hood, 
A.    A.   Conant,  D.  H.  Conant,  Hon.  Charles 
F.  Sargent  of  Lawrence,  G.  R.  Grantham, 
George    A.    Schofield,    John    A. 
Brown,  Charles  E.  Good- 
hue,   the    last    three 
being  Selectmen 
of  Ipswich. 

Walter  Thomas,  in  uniform  of  the  Topsfield  Warren  Blues,  of 

70  years  ago,  with  metal  hat,  flint-lock  musket, 

and  Continental  style  of  uniform. 

TOPSFIELD  VETERANS  OF  THE  CIVIL  WAR. 

James  Wilson,  Erwin  T.  Phillips,  William  H.  Wildes,  E.  Per- 
kins Averill,  Charles  G.  Cotton,  Lewis  A.  Chapman,  D. 
Oscar  Nelson,  Edwin  K.  Foster,  Charles  H.  Frye, 
Enos  Fuller,  John  H.  Towne,  Stephen  Pierce, 
of    Topsfield ;     A.    T.    Howe,     George- 
town ;  Cleveland  Gould,  of  Haverhill ; 
Henry   H.   Potter,    of    Danvers. 

Arthur  Leach  on  pony. 

FLOAT. 

Forty-five    girls   from   Intermediate  and   Grammar  schools, 
dressed  to  represent  "Our  States  ;"  float  handsomely 
decorated  with  tri-colored  bunting;   Ben- 
jamin Woodbury,  driver,  dressed 
as   **Uncle   Sam." 


100  THE  TOWN   OF  TOPSFIELD. 

FLOAT. 

Forty  boys  of  the  Intermediate  and  Primary  schools,  dressed 
as  ''Rough  Riders"  and  Sailors ;  the  "Army  and  Navy." 

Barge  with  school  children  in  light  dresses,  from  the  Lower 
Primary  grades. 

HOOK  AND  LADDER  TRUCK. 


SECOND  DIVISION. 

Marshal. 
CHARLES  J.  PEABODY. 

Aids. 

John  H.  Bradstreet.         George  Little. 
E.  B.  Woodbury.  Lyman  A.  Wilkins. 

FLOATS  OF  THE  TOPSFIELD  GRANGE. 

First,  handsomely   decorated    with    wheat,    and    containing 

farming  implements,   wheat  stacks,   etc.,  in  wheat  field. 

with  curtain  of  wheat  reaching  to  the  ground. 

Second,   Flora,  Ceres  and    Pomona,    seated    beneath    floral 
arches.     Miss  Gertrude  Bradstreet,  Mrs.  Sarah  Ward  and 
Miss  Grace  Frame,  representing  the  respective  dei- 
ties.    They   were    clad    in   light  dresses,   and 
presided    over    lavish    displays    of    farm 
products.     These  ladies  were  the 
officers  of  the  Grange. 


Some   Of   The    Features    In    The    Procession. 


TWO   HUNDRED   AND    FIFTIETH    ANNIVERSARY.         lOI 

FLOAT. 

Indian  camp,  entered  by  Mrs.  C.  G.  Rice  of  Hamilton,  show- 
ing a  typical  camp  with   wigwam,   camp-fire,  two 
squaws  and  twelve  pappooses.     The  float 
was    drawn    by    six    handsome 
horses  ridden  by  Indians. 

DEADWOOD  MAIL  COACH. 

Driven  by  R.  M.  Appleton  of  the  Myopia  Hunt  Club,  and 

containing  cowboys  as  passengers,  with  three  armed 

outriders,  all  from  the  Appleton  farm. 

MYOPIA  HUNT  CLUB  HOUNDS. 

T.  G.  Frothingham,  Acting  Master,  and  E.  S.  Craven,  Whip, 
dressed  in  red  coats  and  white  trousers, 

A.  O.  U.  W.  FLOAT. 

Representing  a  home  made  happy  by  the  beneficence  of  that 

fraternal  organization.  Miss  Elizabeth  Ferguson  as  the 

mother,    Helen    Andrews    and    Harold   Jordan    as 

children.     They  were    seated    in    the    garden 

before   the    house.     This    was   quite 

an  elaborate  design. 

FLOAT. 

Showing  sick  chamber  with    Odd   Fellows    and    Rebekahs 

ministering  to  the  needs  of  the  afflicted.     C.  H.  Leach, 

Eben  S.  Merrill,  Mrs.  R.  G.  Phillips  and  Miss  Mary 

L.  Woodbury  assuming  the  parts.     Entered  by 

Fountain    lodge,    I.    O.    O.    F.,  and 

Rowena  Rebekah  lodge. 

FLOAT. 

Satire  on  train  accommodations  at  Topsfield,  showing  the 

"Topsfield  Lightning  Express"  of  one  smoker 

and  passenger  car.     Entered  by 

Thomas   W.   Peirce. 


102  THE  TOWN   OF    TOPSFIELD. 

FLOAT  FROM  J.  A.  LAMSON  FARM. 

Displaying  corn  products,  name  of  farm  worked  in  pop  corn 
on  side.     Amid  a  bower  of  corn  sat  Misses  Grace 
and  Hattie  Merrill,  Ethel  Adams,  and  John 
Lamson  Glover  of  the  twelfth  gen- 
eration   from    William 
Lamson,    the 
settler. 


MAPLEWOOD  FARM  FLOAT. 

Johnson  and  Lewis,  cow  and  three  calves,  one,  two  days  old, 

and  two  sheep,  making  a  pretty  farm  scene,  amid 

profuse  decorations  of  corn  and  bunting. 

Little  Arthur  Lewis,  dressed  like 

a  farmer,  was  in  attendance. 


FLOAT. 

From  Mrs.  John  C.  Phillips'   Moraine  farm,  North  Beverly, 

beautifully  decorated  with  flags  and  bunting,  and 

bearing  a  live  donkey,  hitched  to  a  donkey 

cart  in  which  sat  Mildred  L.  Meade, 

dressed  in  white,   a  golden 

haired  Miss  of  five 

summers. 


Mayor  David  M.  Little,  and  Frank  Cook,  of  Salem,  in  an 
automobile  of  their  own  make. 


FLOAT. 

Representing  Indians  of  the  Agawam   tribe,    in   birch-bark 

canoe,  "Among  the  lily-pads."     The  Indians  were  R.  B. 

Young,  John  EUard,  and  O.  C.  Taylor.     The  float 

was  drawn   by  horses,  led  by  Fred  Burnham 

and    Alfred    Lloyd,    dressed    in 

Puritan  costume. 


Some  Of   The    Features    In   The    Procession. 


TWO   HUNDRED   AND   FIFTIETH   ANNIVERSARY.         IO3 

H.  H.  PILLSBURY,  DANVERS,  FLOAT. 

Containing  life-sized  wooden  horse  dragging  four  children  in 
a  handsome    dog-cart.     The   children    were    Mar- 
garet George,  Claude   Porter,  Gordon 
Allen  and  Laura  Merrill. 

H.  H.  Pillsbury,  Danvers,  three-seated  carriage  drawn   by  a 
fine  pair   of  white  horses,  and  decorated  with  golden- 
rod,  carrying  Misses  Perley,  Abbott,  Marston, 
Hayes,  Perry  and  Pierce,  who  were 
dressed    in   white. 

Carriage  of  Mrs.  Gilbert  B.  Balch,  decorated  with  red  and 

white  pinks  and  ribbons,  and  drawn  by  a  handsome 

pair    of    horses.     ''A    most    artistic    and 

tasty  display,  well  worthy  of 

special    mention." 

Essex  Agricultural  Society  barouche,  containing  four  young 
ladies  dressed  in  yellow  and  white. 

Carriage    of   the    Danvers    Evening    Press,    decorated    with 
golden-rod,  and  containing  four  ladies. 

Mrs.  George  L.  Gould's  phaeton,  artistically  decorated  with 

golden- rod,  Warren  F.  Gould  and  Bertram  C. 

Gould  mounted  as  outriders. 

J.  F.  Porter,  Danvers,  float,  displaying  furniture. 

Charles  McTerney,  Danvers,  float,  displaying  harnesses. 

C.  H.  Leach,  butcher  wagons. 

J.  A.  McLaughlin,  float,  showing  a  little   boy,  James  Farrell, 

in  a  bath  tub. 

Almy,  Bigelow  &  Washburn  Co.,  Salem,  team. 


I04  THE   TOWN    OF   TOPSFIELD. 

Calvin  Putnam,  Danvers,  teams  loaded  with  lumber. 

P.  R.  Kimball,  teams,  with  display  of  flour. 

Woodbury  &  Co.,  teams,  with  display  of  coal  and  wood. 

Poor  &  Co.,  teams,  with  display  of  flour  and  canned  goods. 

E.  E.   Ferguson,    team,   displaying    vegetables    and    fruits, 
artistically  arranged. 

G.  E.  Hills,  team,  with  display  of  boots  and  shoes. 

Frank  B.  Trask,  Danvers,  furniture  team. 

Alden  P.   Peabody,  farm  wagon  loaded  with  potatoes. 

Barouche  containing  Mr.  and  Mrs.  J.  M.  Nickerson,  Mrs.  C. 

S.  Brown,  and  W.  C.   Nickerson,  all   of    Danvers. 

Carriage  was  prettily  decorated,  and  was 

driven  by  D.  W.  Webster,  dressed 

in  Continental  uniform. 

W.  A.  Webb,  Danvers,  team,  displaying  brick  work. 

W.   C.   Ray,   three   milk   wagons,  decorated   with   flags  and 
bunting,  surrounding  floral  pieces  on  the  sides. 

Batchelder   Farm,    milk   wagon,  with    name    on  the  side  in 

floral  letters. 


THE  DECORATIONS. 


"A  striking  feature  of  the  town  is  the  beautifully  kept 
grounds  and  lawns  about  the  residences.  Each  house-owner 
seems  to  have  vied  with  his  neighbor,  in  trying  to  present 
the  finest  looking  place.  So  wrote  a  newspaper  correspondent 
at  the  time  of  the  celebration.  Public  buildings  and  private 
residences  were  very  generally  decorated.  The  Town  Hall 
and  Centre  School  House  were  covered  with  bunting  draped 
in  elaborate  designs.  An  arch  across  Main  street  near  the  rail- 
road crossing  displayed  the  words  TOPSFIELD,  and  WELCOME, 
and  every  telephone  pole  on  Main  street  was  draped  with 
bunting  looped  from  a  projecting  arm  extended  at  a  right 
angle  over  the  street.  Among  the  decorated  buildings  were 
the  following:  Town  Hall,  Centre  School  House,  Congrega- 
tional Church  and  Parsonage,  Boston  and  Maine  R.  R.  Station, 
Post-OfTice,  Fountain  Lodge,  I.  O.  O.  F.  Hall,  Justin  Allen, 
M.  D.,  residence;  W.  H.  Herrick,  residence  and  shoe  manu- 
factory ;  T.  L.  Jenkins,  M.  D.,  residence  ;  Geo.  R.  Grantham, 
residence;  Edwin  S.  Clifford,  residence ;  Geo.  Francis  Dow, 
residence ;  Stanwood  Church  Home ;  Daniel  Fuller.,  resi- 
dence;  I.  M.  Woodbury,  residence ;  John  H.  Potter,  res- 
idence ;  Mary  S.  Kimball,  residence  and  store ;  Paul  R.  Kim- 
ball, store;  Chas.  H.  Leach,  residence  and  grounds;  W.  Pit- 
man Gould,  residence;  J.  A.  McLaughlin,  store;  Benj.  Lane 
and  Albert  Lane,  residence ;  Eben  S.  Merrill  and  F.  P.  Smer- 
age,  residence;  H.  H.  Roberts,  residence;  John  Bailey,  resi- 
dence; C.  L  Trowbridge,  store ;  A.  T.  Merrill,  residence ; 
Joseph  B.  Poor,  residence  and  store ;  Geo.  E.  Hills,  store ; 
J.  H.  Chandler,  residence ;  E.  B.  Woodbury,  residence ;  C. 
W.  Floyd  and  C.  F.  Dodge,  residence;  Smith's  Hotel;  Geo. 
L.  Gould,  residence  ;  Lyman  A.  Perkins,  residence  ;  Albert  A. 
Conant,  residence;   Gilbert  B.  Balch,  residence. 

(105) 


TOPSFIELD,  MAINE. 


Topsfield,  Maine,  a  small  township  in  the  eastern  part 
of  the  State,  near  the  Canadian  boundary,  was  christened  in 
honor  of  Topsfield,  Mass.  It  was  founded  by  Nehemiah 
Kneeland*  who  removed  from  Topsfield,  Mass.,  to  Harrison, 
Maine,  about  1818;  about  ten  years  later  removing  to  Lin- 
coln, Maine,  where  in  March,  1832,  in  company  with  a  few 
neighbors,  he  loaded  his  family  and  household  goods  on  a 
sled  drawn  by  oxen,  and  went  forty  miles  into  the  wilder- 
ness. The  party  made  a  clearing  in  the  unbroken  forest  and 
founded  a  new  town.  Here  some  of  Nehemiah  Kneeland's 
descendants  still  live.  The  town  still  has  a  heavy  growth  of 
timber,  and,  like  its  namesake,  several  high  hills.  It  was 
incorporated  Feb.  24,  1838.  The  population  in  1890,  was 
375;  valuation,  $81,598.00;  number  of  polls,  78.  The 
Essex  County  names — Bailey,  Lane,  and  Noyes,  appear  in 
the  list  of  those  engaged  in  business  in  the  township. 


*Nehemiah  Kneeland  was  born  in  Topsfield,  May  5,  1789,  and 
married  Mary  Goodhue  of  Salem.  He  was  the  son  of  Aaron  and  Han- 
nah (Ramsdell)  Kneeland,  and  a  descendant  of  Edward  Kneeland,  an 
early  settler  at  Ipswich.  Aaron  Kneeland  was  a  soldier  at  Lexington 
and  Bunker  Hill.  He  removed  with  his  family  to  Harrison,  Cumber- 
land County,  Maine,  about  1808,  where  many  of  his  descendants  now 
reside. 


(io6) 


VIEWS    SHOWING    THE    WEST    PORCH    AND    INTERIOR    OF 
ST.    MARGARETS    CHURCH,    TOPPESFIELD,    ENGLAND. 


A  SKETCH  OF  TOPPESFIELD  PARISH, 
ESSEX  CO.,  ENGLAND. 

BY  REV.  H.  B.  BARNES,  RECTOR  OF  ST.  MARGARETS. 


For  the  last  six  months  I  have  been  trying  to  gather 
material  for  a  sketch  of  the  history  of  ancient  Toppesfield. 
The  work  would  be  by  no  means  easy  even  for  an  expert, 
for  there  appear  to  have  been  no  previous  workers  in  this 
field,  from  whom  to  gather  without  toil  that  which  must  in 
the  first  instance  have  been  discovered  at  the  cost  of  much 
time  and  labour. 

Of  course  the  chronicler  has  the  old  records  on  the 
tombs,  the  old  account  books,  as  well  as  the  old  registers, 
which  he  can  always  consult,  and  which  probably  would 
reveal  tales  of  deepest  interest  to  any  one  who  has  leisure  to 
study  them,  and  experience  and  skill  to  understand  the 
meaning  of  that  which  is  written  in  these  old-world  records, 
but  the  present  writer  confesses  with  sorrow  that  even  had 
he  the  time  to  spare  he  has  not  got  the  skill ;  but  he  hopes 
that  he  is  no  dog  in  the  manger;  so  should  any  one  (and 
especially  any  one  interested  in  the  connection  between 
Topsfield  and  Toppesfield)  wish  to  work  up  all  that  can  be 
learned  from  these  original  documents,  he  may  count  on  being 
met  with  the  heartiest  welcome,  and  the  fullest  help  that  can 
be  rendered. 

(107) 


I08  THE   TOWN    OF   TOPSFIELD. 

As  then,  (in  the  absence  of  other  men's  writings  from 
which  to  steal,  and  of  ability  to  make  original  researches) 
it  is  impossible  to  write  any  account  of  ancient  Toppesfield 
which  shall  not  be  of  an  imaginative  rather  than  an  historical 
character.  I  have  thought  that  perhaps  some  short  account 
of  the  Toppesfield  of  to-day  might  be  of  interest. 

The  village  is  situated  in  the  north-eastern  corner  of  the 
County  of  Essex,  near  to  the  borders  of  Suffolk  on  the  east, 
and  of  Cambridgeshire  on  the  north ;  the  country  is  not  by 
any  means  of  the  level  character  that  is  usually  attributed  to 
the  whole  of  Essex.  There  are  no  great  hills  but  there  is  no 
flat  country  ;  all  is  undulating.  Toppesfield  itself — whatever 
the  origin  of  its  name — certainly  by  its  position  deserves  its 
designation ;  the  church  does  not  stand  on  the  highest 
ground  in  the  parish,  but  yet  its  tower  serves  for  a  land-mark 
for  miles  around,  on  all  sides  except  the  west,  on  which  side 
a  wood  screens  it  from  view;  while  in  the  parish  about  two 
miles  in  a  southerly  direction  from  the  church,  is  found  the 
highest  point  in  this  part  of  the  county,  excelled  in  the 
whole  county  only,  if  at  all,  by  Danbury  Hill  near  Chelms- 
ford. 

The  soil  is  almost  uniformly  clay,  and  very  good  for 
wheat  growing,  and  its  fertility  is  such  that  even  in  the  present 
time  of  agricultural  depression  there  is  not  an  unoccupied 
acre  in  the  parish.  Yet  it  must  not  for  a  moment  be  sup- 
posed that  Toppesfield  has  escaped  unscathed ;  very  far 
from  it.  Thirty  years  ago  it  was  as  rich  and  prosperous  a 
little  place  as  could  be  found ;  now  it  is  miserably  poverty- 
stricken ;  then,  there  were  numbers  of  well-to-do  farmers, 
now,  the  land  is  farmed  in  large  holdings  by  men  who,  for  the 
most  part,  live  in  neighbouring  villages;  then,  many  of  the 
old  houses  dotted  about  the  parish  were  occupied  by  large 
and  thriving  families ;  now,  the  families  have  gone  and  many 
of  the  houses  are  either  occupied  by  labourers  (e.g.  Olivers. 
Cust  Hall  and  Fry's  Hall)  or  are  falling  into  decay  as 
*'Mullows"  has  done.  The  impossibility  of  making  a  living 
off  the  land,  has  driven  the  descendants  of  sturdy  yeomen  to 
seek  elsewhere,  the  livelihood  which  the  ground  their  fathers 
tilled,  can  no  longer  afford  them. 

Nor   is   the    lot  of  the  labourer  better  than  that  of  the 


TWO    HUNDRED   AND    FIFTIETH    ANNIVERSARY.  IO9 

farmer;  though  the  cause  of  the  trouble  is  in  his  case  differ- 
ent; for  farm  labourers  wages,  have  this  year  stood  higher 
than  they  have  ever  been  known  to  be  before.  But  in  the 
old  days  the  daughters  and  wife  would  earn  more  than  the 
father,  and  would  do  so  without  being  necessarily  taken  away 
from  home  ;  even  thirty  years  ago,  straw  plaiting  was  a  great 
industry  in  this  part  of  England.  Old  crones  maintained 
themselves  in  comparative  comfort  by  holding  "schools"  in 
which  infants  of  quite  tender  years  were  taught  to  plait,  and, 
as  the  children  grew  up,  they  plaited  as  they  stood  in  their 
cottage  doors  or  as  they  lolled  about  the  roads,  and  their 
work  was  every  week  collected  by  higglers  who  came  round 
for  the  purpose.  All  this  has  come  to  an  end  now;  no  straw 
plait  is  made  here  for  it  can  be  more  cheaply  imported  from 
the  East  than  it  can  be  made  at  home;  and  though  the 
money  that  was  earned  in  this  way  is  much  missed,  yet  the 
village  is  happier  and  better  for  the  loss  of  this  business,  for 
straw  plaiting  always  seemed — wherever  it  was  done — to 
bring  a  moral  deterioration  in  its  train. 

There  is  however  an  indirect  way  in  which  the  agricul- 
tural depression  seriously  affects  the  labourer;  it  makes  it 
very  dif^cult  for  him  to  get  a  decent  cottage.  The  profits 
of  farming  having  been  so  much  reduced,  the  farmers  have 
been  unable  to  pay  anything  like  the  old  amount  of  rent  and 
this  has  hit  the  land-owning  class  very  hard ;  in  some  cases 
the  depreciation  of  the  value  of  land  has  been  so  great  that 
its  capital  value  now  is  little  more  than  its  old  annual  rent; 
plenty  of  good  land  can  now  be  bought  for  £j.  an  acre  and 
in  this  price  are  sometimes  included  farm  houses  and  out- 
buildings and  cottages  which  have  quite  recently  cost  more 
than  now  they  can  fetch,  even  with  the  freehold  of  the  land 
thrown  in ;  small  pieces  of  land  without  buildings  fetch 
(except  for  some  special  reason)  even  lower  prices.  I  heard 
last  week  of  thirteen  acres  of  good  land  in  an  adjoining 
parish  being  sold  for  no  more  than  £\0. 

The  landlords  then,  being  so  hard  hit  in  all  cases,  and 
sometimes  having  positively  no  balance  left  after  they  have 
paid  the  "charges"  on  the  estate  (doweries  it  may  be  or  pen- 
sions determined  upon  during  the  fat  years  of  prosperity)  are 
unwilling,  even  when,  through  having  other  sources  of  income, 


no  THE   TOWN   OF  TOPSFIELD. 

they  are  able,  to  spend  more  money  than  can  be  helped,  on 
the  up-keep  of  their  farm  buildings  and  the  cottages  on 
their  farms;  hence  on  every  side  the  barns  and  out-buildings 
are  more  or  less  dilapidated,  (though  it  must  be  owned  that 
in  this  respect  there  has  been  a  considerable  improvement 
during  the  last  two  years)  hence  too  the  refusal  to  repair 
old  cottages,  so  that  cottage  after  cottage  is  condemned  by 
the  medical  officer  of  health  as  unfit  or  unsafe  for  human 
habitation,  and  the  inhabitants  of  the  condemned  cottages 
are  obliged  to  seek  their  living  elsewhere  than  in  the  old 
parish.  As  for  new  cottages,  none  have  been  built  lately 
and  none  are  likely  to  be  built,  for  if  the  landlords  cannot 
build  them  no  one  else  will  except  from  philanthropic  motives, 
for  it  would  be  difficult  to  get  a  nett  return  of  two  per  cent, 
on  the  minimum  cost  of  erection. 

The  necessary  results  of  such  a  condition  of  things  are 
easily  understood  ;  the  best  of  the  young  men  go  off  to  the 
towns,  and  there  gain  their  living;  many  of  them  become 
policeman  or  employes  on  the  railways;  others  become 
soldiers ;  the  young  women  go  out  to  domestic  service  and 
so  the  village  is  left  with  the  old  people  and  the  young  chil- 
dren to  inhabit  it.  The  proportion  of  the  old  is  something 
remarkable  ;  that  the  climate  is  extremely  healthy  and  that 
longevity  is  much  more  common  here  than  in  most  places, 
may  have  a  little  to  do  with  it,  but  fails  altogether  to  account 
for  the  wonderful  proportion  of  old  people  in  the  population  ; 
no,  the  reason  is  that  the  young  men  and  women  as  soon  as 
they  grow  up  go  off  elsewhere  to  seek  a  better  market  for 
their  labour;  and  while  we  regret  losing  them,  and  fear  that 
many  of  the  men  like  the  married  man  of  the  story  find  the 
change  "none  for  the  better  and  all  for  the  worse,"  there  can 
be  no  doubt  that  the  course  they  take  is  the  one  which  must 
seem  most  reasonable  to  those  who  have  no  knowledge  of 
the  condition  of  unskilled  labour  in  the  great  towns.  The 
extent  to  which  this  exodus  is  reducing  the  population  of  the 
parish  may  be  judged  from  the  fact  that  while  in  183 1  there 
were  1088  inhabitants;  in  1881  there  were  861  ;  in  1891  790, 
and  in  1901  there  is  no  doubt  that  there  will  be  a  still  further 
reduction.  It  is  impossible  to  form  an  accurate  estimate, 
but  I  should  guess  the  number  at  650,  basing  my  calculation 


TWO    HUNDRED    AND    FIFTIETH    ANNIVERSARY.  1 1  I 

on  the  number  of  children  on  the  school  books,  which  is  now 
115,  while  in  1891  it  was  146.  I  am  glad  to  say,  however, 
that  the  average  number  in  attendance  for  this  year  is  higher 
than  it  was  then,  for  while  in  1891  the  average  was  in,  it  is 
for  the  time  that  has  passed  since  the  beginning  of  the  cur- 
rent school  year  on  April  ist  last*  1 13,  which  we  are  proud 
to  consider  would  be  a  remarkable  performance  for  any  school, 
but  which  is  highly  creditable  in  a  parish  where  some  of  the 
scholars  live  two  and  one-half  miles  away  from  the  school 
door.  The  school  is  a  voluntary  school  supported  by  a 
voluntary  rate  of  4d  in  the  £1,  In  addition  of  course  to  the 
Government  grant;  the  total  cost  for  a  scholar  in  average 
attendance  being  about  £2.  10.  o.  per  annum  ;  the  buildings 
are  good  and  roomy,  and  would  accommodate  nearly  double 
the  present  number  of  scholars.  In  the  school  is  also  held 
an  evening  continuation  school  for  young  men  which  was 
begun  this  year  and  which  has  been  doing  fairly  well.  In 
this  same  building  are  held  the  meetings  of  the  members  of 
what  is  known  as  "the  school  club,"  an  excellent  Benefit 
Society,  a  branch  of  the  National  Deposit  Friendly  Society. 
The  Toppesfield  branch  started  some  fifteen  years  ago  by 
the  then  Rector,  the  Rev,  C.  F.  Taylor,  has  over  100  mem- 
bers ;  many  of  them  however  are  now  living  in  distant  parts 
and  some  come  from  neighbouring  villages.  Toppesfield 
has  reason  to  feel  proud  of  its  school  and  of  its  Benefit 
Society. 

Near  the  School  is  the  church  which  is  dedicated  to  St. 
Margaret;  the  tower  looks  imposing  from  a  distance  but 
when  examined  more  closely  proves  to  be  a  rather  poor 
specimen  of  the  architecture  of  the  beginning  of  the  eighteenth 
century ;  there  was  an  old  tower,  the  inside  of  which  must 
have  opened  on  to  the  church,  with  a  lofty  early  English 
arch,  and  which  is  said  to  have  been  built  of  flint  and  rubble  ; 
this  fell  down  on  July  4th  1689,  and  was  replaced  by  the 
present  structure  of  brick ;  the  tower  contains  five  bells,  two 
of  which  however  need  recasting.  The  church  consists  of  a 
chancel,  nave,  and  south  aisle  with  a  gallery  at  the  west  end, 
against  the  tower.     The  chancel   contains   an  interesting  old 

•It  is  only  fair  to  state,  that  during  the  months  April,  May  and  June,  there  were  ten  more  chil- 
dren •n  the  books,  but  the  average  weekly  percentage  of  children  present  is,  for  this  year,  over 
ninety-flve. 


112  THE   TOWN    OF   TOPSFIELD. 

tomb  surmounted  with  a  cross,  built  half  in  and  half  out  of 
the  south  wall.  There  is  no  inscription  on  the  tomb,  and  it 
is  not  known  to  whom  it  belongs.  In  the  floor  is  an  old 
brass,  bearing  the  figures  of  a  man  and  woman,  and  with  the 
inscription 

Pray  for  the  sowlys  of  John  Cracherowd  and  Agnes  his 
wyff :    the  whyche  John  decesyd  the  yere  of  Our  Lord 
God  I  5  13,  upon  whose  sowl  Christ  have  mercy. 

Near  to  this  there  is  another  brass  plate  with  the  inscription  : 

Here  lyeth  buryed  William  Cracherod,  Gent,  who  died 
Xth  of  January  1585,  and  Eliz  ;    his  wyfe  the  XVIIth  of 
Feb.    1587. 

Near  to  this  again  there  is  a  tomb,  with  a  full-sized  effigy  of 
a  man,  bearing  no  inscription,  but  probably  containing  an 
earlier  mem.ber  of  the  same  family  of  Cracherod. 

On  the  walls  of  the  chancel  are  commonplace  memorials 
of  three  former  Rectors,*  and  two  memorials  of  ladies  which 
may  be  worth  transcribing ;  on  the  north  wall  there  is  a 
marble  monument  bearing  various  symbolical  devicesf  and 
this  inscription : 

*Against  the  east  wall  of  the  chancel  is  a  small  mural  monument, 
upon  which  is  written  as  follows:— Ego  Richardus  King,  patria  Here- 
fordiensis,  educatione  Oxoniensi,  pofessione  theologus,  officio  capel- 
loneus  Jacobi  Regis  ferenissimi  &  hujus  ecclesiae  vicarius  indignus, 
hoc  in  loco  sacrosancto  sponte  depono  &  recondo  corporis  exuvias 
laus  Deo,  salus  ecclesiae,  &  animae  meae  requies  in  aeternum.  Amen. 
[For  illustration  of  this  tablet,  see.  The  Ancient  Sepulchral  Monuments 
of  Essex.     By  Frederic  Chancellor,  p.  325,  London,  1890.] 

In  English: — I  Richard  King,  by  country  an  Herefordshireman,  by 
education  an  Oxonian,  by  profession  a  divine,  by  office  a  chaplain  to  king 
James  and  the  unworthy  vicar  of  this  church,  willingly  deposit  my 
remains  in  this  sacred  place. — Praise  be  to  God,  health  to  the  church, 
and  rest  to  my  soul  for  ever.  Amen. — History  of  Essex  (Co.).  By  a 
Geti  tie  man .    Chelmsford^  '^11'^- 

fTwo  Bibles  serve  the  office  of  trusses,  upon  which  are  two  rows  of 
books,  that  instead  of  two  pilasters  support  a  neat  pediment,  in  the 
middle  of  which  pediment  is  a  beehive,  and  under  the  hive  is  written 
mdtcltria  dulcis^  meaning  sweet  industry.  Over  the  hive  is  placed  a 
dove,  with  the  words  jida  simplex  (imparting  simple  fidelity)  written 
below  it.  Six  of  the  books  which  compose  the  pilasters  are  labelled 
thus: — Sacrae  medit;  Soliloquia;  Publ.  Prec;  Praxis  Pict;  Flores  Prac; 
Psalmi. — History  of  Essex  {Co).    By  a  Gentleman.  Chelmsford.,  I77i« 


•,N    OLD    COTTAGE,    TOPPESFIELD,    ENGLAND. 
THE    RECTORY,   TOPPESFIELD,    ENGLAND. 


TWO    HUNDRED   AND   FIFTIETH   ANNIVERSARY.         II3 

Sacrum    memorioe     pientiss*    fceminoe    Dorcadi    (sic) 

uxori 
Guil    Smyth    armigeri ;    qui    eam    prius    viduam    Guil. 

Bigg  triumq 
liberor   matre,  ob  modestia,  pietate   prudentia  singulare 
duxit;  etin  familiaprosapia  celebretraduxit;  ubi  multos 
annos  ille,  spendidce  hospitalitatis  et  candoris,  ilia 
solertise  fideique  matronalis  exemplar;    clara  omnibusq 
nobilib*    oeque  ac  infimis  chara  sui  memoria  reliqueru 
Laudatiss"®  avice  suae,  sacra  senecta  lectione,  meditatione 
bonisq   operibus    indefesse    consolanti  tandeq   inter  in- 

credibilia 
sanctissimae  animse  gaudia  ultro  in  coelu  avolanti  H.  Bigg 
nepos  hisce  symbolis  parentat  et  lachrymis.     Hoc  pago 

educata. 
nupta;   Cressingoe,  mortua,  sepulta. 

Obiit  1663.  Dec.  18  anno  aetat  ']6* 


*In  English: — Sacred  to  the  memory  of  that  very  pious  woman  Dorcas 
the  wife  of  William  Smith,  esquire;  who  married  her,  when  the  widow 
of  William  Bigg  and  the  mother  of  three  children,  for  her  singular 
modesty,  piety,  and  prudence;  and  placed  her  in  a  family  of  great 
eminence;  wherein,  he  was  many  years  a  bright  pattern  of  hospitality 
and  goodness;  she,  of  diligence  and  conjugal  fidelity;  persons  of  every 
rank  held  her  in  great  esteem:  the  memory  of  them  was  dear  to  all  who 
knew  them.  H.  Bigg  makes  an  offering  of  this  and  of  his  tears  to  his 
much  esteemed  grandmother,  who  incessantly  comforted  her  old  age,  by 
reading  the  holy  scriptures,  by  meditation,  and  by  acts  of  goodness; 
and  who,  at  length  amidst  the  inconceivable  joys  of  a  most  pious  soul, 
willingly  winged  her  way  to  heaven.  She  was  brought  up  and  married 
in  this  town:  she  died  and  was  buried  at  Cressing.  She  "departed  this 
life  December  18,  1633,  i^  the  76th  year  of  her  age.  Beneath  this 
inscription  is  the  figure  of  a  lamb  placed  upon  a  bible,  upon  which  is 
written  these  words:  Biblia  fides  sacra,  which  mean,  Faith  in  the  Holy 
Bible:  on  one  side  the  bible  is  the  representation  of  a  bleeding  heart,  as 
figurativeof  her  feelings  for  the  distressed  poor:  on  the  other  side  is  that 
of  an  expanded  hand;  doubtless  as  a  symbol  of  her  readiness  always  to 
assist  them.  The  whole  is  prettily  designed,  and  executed  in  a  masterly 
manner. — History  of  Essex  {Co.).      By  a  Gentleman.     Chelmsford,  1771. 


114  THE  TOWN   OF   TOPSFIELD. 

On  the  South  wall  is  a  memorial  of  a  young  lady  of  eighteen: 

Her  disposition  was  mild  and  benevolent 

her  manners  gentle  and  simple 

and  most  respectfully  obliging 

her  sentiments  enlarged  and  liberal 

her  understanding  clear  and  comprehensive 

enriched  with  an  uncommon  extent  and  variety 

of  attainments,  of  which  she  was  so  far 

from  making  an  ostentatious  display 

that  she  seemed  unconscious    she  possessed  them 

nay,  the  degrading  conceptions  she  unhappily  formed 

of  her  own  worth  moral  and  intelectual  (sic) 

were  probably  the  source  of  insupportable  sufferings 

"The  brain  too  nicely  wrought 

Preys  on  itself  and  is  destroyed  by  thought." 

One  cannot  but  wonder  whether  the  young  lady  overburdened 
by  the  marvellous  talents  of  which  she  was  unaware  sought 
relief  in  suicide. 

The  South  aisle  has  a  fine  old  oak  carved  roof,  the  date 
of  which  can  be  determined  (by  the  combination  of  the 
pomegranite  and  the  rose  found  on  it)  to  be  about  the  year 
1500.  At  the  east  end  of  the  aisle  there  used  to  be  a  window 
with  fine  old  glass,  but  it  having  been  found  necessary,  some 
half  century  ago,  to  build  a  vestry  out  beyond  the  aisle,  the 
glass  in  the  window  was  removed  and  left  about  to  perish  ! 
this  is  not  the  only  loss — caused  by  neglect  or  ignorance — - 
that  we  have  occasion  to  deplore.  At  the  east  end  of  this 
aisle  there  can  be  seen  on  one  side  a  piscina,  showing  that 
an  alter  once  stood  there,  and  in  the  other,  high  up  in  the 
wall,  the  entrance  to  the  rood  loft  of  which  no  other  trace 
now  remains.  The  font,  which  stands  in  the  aisle,  has  no 
other  interest  than  such  as  is  derived  from  its  great  age. 
The  body  of  the  church  has  nothing  to  recommend  it,  the 
seats  are  mean  looking  and  uncomfortable  for  use,  the  pulpit 
is  commonplace,  the  west  gallery  (in  which,  in  the  good  old 
days  of  even  fifty  years  ago  or  less,  sat  the  performers  on  the 
fiddles  and  the  flutes)  is  Jacobean,  but  while  all  built  of  oak 
is  faced  on  its  pillars  with  carved  oak ;  the  great  oak  beams 
which    span    the    nave   are    similarly    cased,  and  unhappily 


TWO    HUNDRED   AND    FIFTIETH    ANNIVERSARY. 


^15 


neither  they  nor  the  roof  are  in  a  sound  condition.  The 
right  of  appointing  the  Rector  rests  with  the  Crown;  there 
were  here  at  one  time  both  a  Rectory  (which  then  was  a 
sinecure)  and  a  Vicarage ;  but  the  Bishop  of  London,  about 
1454,  finding  that  the  Vicarage  had  become  too  poor  to 
maintain  a  clergyman,  united  the  Vicarage  to  the  Rectory. 
There  is  still  a  piece  of  the  Glebe  land  known  as  "the  vicarage," 
which  forms  a  memorial  of  the  old  state  of  things. 

The   names   are   known   of  all   the   clergy  of  the  Parish 
since  1300: 


DATE.         SINECURE  RECTORS. 


1327. 


1385. 
1386. 
1386. 

1446. 
1452. 
1454. 


1492. 


1504. 
1520. 
I55I. 

1553- 
1554- 
1556. 

1559- 


John  Hardy.* 
William  de  Grytton. 
John  Cory. 
William  Noble. 
William  Barret. 
Thomas  Haxeye.* 
Thomas  Banaster.* 
William  Gray. 
Nicholas  Manvell.     (died) 
William  Breden.* 
John  Hambalt. 
William  Parker. 


DATE.         VICARS. 

William      (died) 
1331.     Stephen  le  Parker. 

John  Hokyngton.* 
1385.     William  Lambeleye  or 

Welton.* 
1394.     John  Cukkowe. 

William  Mersey,     (died) 

1 43 1.  Richard  Pumpy.* 

1432.  John  Scarlette.* 

1433.  William  Meyr. 
John  Peteville. 

1448.     Henry  Huyton. 


RECTORS. 


William  Parker. 
John  Edenham  or 

Ednam,  D.  D. 

Thomas  Fermyn.     (died) 
Adam  Becansawe. 
Thomas  Donnell,  B.  D. 
Cuthbert  Hagerston,  M.  A. 
Thomas  Havard. 
Richard  Wynne. 
Thomas  Donnell,  B.  D. 


1571.  William  Redman,  D.  D. 

1578.  William  Whiting. 

1598.  Edward  Graunt,  D.  D. 

1 601.  William  Smyth.* 

1603.  Theodore  Beacon,  M.  D. 

1604.  Randolph  Davenport,  B.  D. 

1605.  Richard  Kinge,  D.  D. 


Preferred.  Dean  of  Stoke;  Canon 
of  St.  Paul's  ;  Master  of  Corpus 
Coll. 

Agent  of  Thomas  Cromwell. 
Deprived. 


Restored.  Prebendary  of  Lich- 
field. 

Preferred.  Canon  of  Canterbury ; 
Bishop  of  Norwich. 

Canon  of  Ely ;  Sub-Dean  of  West- 
minster. 


Chaplain  to  James  I. 


Resigned. 


ii6 


THE  TOWN   OF  TOPSFIELD. 


RECTORS. 


Dean  of    Gloucester;    Bishop  of 

Carlisle. 
Chaplain  to  Charles  I. 
Thomas  Overhead  intruded. 


Bishop  of  Clonfert. 
Dean  of  Booking. 
Chaplain  of  the  Rolls. 

Bishop  of   Bristol,  Salisbury  and 

Oxford. 
Dean  of   Bristol;    Bishop  of   St. 

David's. 


Canon  of  Westminster. 


1621.     Richard  Senhouse,  D.  D. 

1624.  Lawrence  Burnell,  D.  D. 
1647-1661.     No  rector. 

1661.  Clement  Thurston,  M.  A. 

1662.  Nathaniel  Ward,  M.  A. 
1662.  Edgar  Wolley,  D.  D. 
1664.  Richard  Collebrand,  D.  D. 
1674.  Robert  Wild,  M.  A. 
1691.  Thomas  Willett,  M.  A. 
1735.  John  Hume,  D.  D. 

1749.  Samuel  Squire,  D.  D.,   F. 

R.  S.,  F.  S.  A. 

1750.  Henry  Herring,  M.  A. 
1772.     George  Pawson,  L.  L.  B. 
1797.     Lord  Henry  Fitzroy,  M.  A. 
1828.     George  Henry  Gooch,  M.  A. 
1876.    John  Sherron  Brewer,  M.  A. 

*  Beticned. 

Since  the  death  of  which  distinguished  man  in  1879  there 
have  been  five  other  Rectors. 

In  the  Church  and  Churchyard  many  of  these  worthies 
lie  buried,  but  none  of  their  memorial  stones  are  worth  copy- 
ing. There  is  one  stone  however  near  the  Tower  which 
records  that : 

Here  lieth  the  body  of 
Sarah  Norfolk  wife  of 
Samuel  Norfolk  the  younger 
who  was  cruelly  murdered  by 
her  husband  Septr.  24  1775  at 
a  farm  call'd  Elms  in  this  Parish 
in  the  25th  year  of  her  age 
The  said  Samuel  Norfolk 
confessed  the  fact 
was  hang'd  and  desected 

The  Parish  registers  date  back  to  1558  and  are  in  a  good 
state  of  preservation  and  fairly  legible  to  those  who  have 
mastered  the  difficulties  of  the  old  form  of  writing ;  there  are 
also  old  account  books  dating  back  to  1662,  and  deeds  of  an 
earlier  date. 


TWO    HUNDRED   AND   FIFTIETH    ANNIVERSARY.         II/ 

On  the  first  page  of  the  earliest  register  is  written  in 
Latin  and  in  English,  the  doggrel  rhymes : 

Advent  wills  thee  to  contein 

But  Hilarie  sets  thee  free  again 

Septuagesima  said  thee  nay 

But  eight  from  Easter  says  you  may 

Rogation  bids  thee  yet  to  tarrie 

But  Trinity  gives  thee  leave  to  marrie. 

The  baptisms,  marriages  and  burials  are  entered  in  separate 
parts  of  the  book  but  mistakes  occur  every  now  and  then, 
so  that  a  marriage  is  entered  among  the  funerals. 

Near  the  church  stand  the  two  village  inns,  the  Chestnuts, 
and  The  Green  Man,  both  of  them  picturesque  in  appearance. 
The  Green  Man  is  as  quaint  and  old-fashioned  as  it  is  com- 
fortable and  well-managed.  The  host,  Mr.  Charles  Seaman, 
has  held  his  house  for  over  forty  years,  and  it  is  commonly 
said  that  there  is  not  an  hotel  in  any  of  the  neighbouring 
towns  for  miles  round  where  guests  are  made  so  comfortable 
or  where  a  dinner  so  well  cooked  and  served  can  be  had. 

Standing  back  in  a  park-like  meadow  is  the  old  Manor 
House  known  as  Berwick  Hall ;  a  nice  comfortable  house, 
with  some  old  oak  in  it,  inhabited  by  Mr.  Charles  Darby, 
whose  family  name  has  been  known  in  Toppesfield  for  some 
three  centuries  at  least. 

Beyond  the  "Park"  of  Berwick  Hall  is  the  Rectory,  part 
of  which  also  is  very  old,  dating  back  to  the  14th  century. 
There  are  traces  of  a  moat  round  both  Berwick  Hall  and  the 
Rectory.  Two  years  ago  (1898)  a  very  fine  oak  ceiling  with 
large  moulded  beams,  and  an  old  oak  doorway,  were  discov- 
ered in  one  of  the  rooms,  having  previously  been  covered  up 
with  plaister  and  canvas.  The  Rectory  is  very  sheltered  on 
all  sides  being  enclosed  by  well-grown  trees  and  with  a  large 
old  Tithe  Barn  lying  on  its  north  side. 

About  half  a  mile  from  the  Rectory  on  the  road  to 
Yeldham,  stands  "Olivers,"  with  a  beautiful  approach  through 
an  avenue ;  it  is  now  inhabited  by  two  labourers ;  there  is  a 
panelled  room  still  in  an  excellent  state  of  preservation 
though  the  woodwork  has  been  unfortunately  covered  with" 
paint. 


Il8  THE   TOWN    OF   TOPSFIELD. 

Toppesfield  Hall,  which  like  Olivers,  belongs  to  Mr.  J. 
M.  Balls,  stands  on  the  other  side  of  the  Yeldham  road  ;  it  is 
a  comfortable  modern  house  inhabited  by  Mr.  J.  F.  Benson, 
one  of  the  church-wardens,  who  is  a  nephew  of  the  proprietor. 

Bradfields  is  a  picturesque  house  lying  rather  low,  and 
in  a  rather  dilapidated  condition. 

Gainsfords  is  another  old  Manor  house  about  two  miles 
from  the  church,  occupied  by  Mr.  C.  Dean  Darby,  a  son  of 
Mr.  Darby  of  Berwick  Hall;   it  also  has  some  nice  oak. 

Flowers  Hall,  about  another  mile  beyond  Gainsfords,  is 
another  nice-looking  house,  not  very  large,  but  with  a  won- 
derful range  of  out-buildings;  it  is  now  occupied  by  Mr. 
Clarke  who  with  his  family  of  active  sons  gets  excellent  results 
from  some  of  the  least  fertile  land  in  the  parish. 

I  have  given  as  fair  a  description  as  I  can  of  the 
Toppesfield  of  today.  What  is  its  future  to  be?  there  is  I 
think  but  little  doubt.  London  is  but  fifty  miles  off,  though 
thanks  to  the  bad  railway  accommodation  it  takes  two  hours 
to  get  there.  The  Londoner  is  more  and  more  developing  a 
love  for  a  country  residence,  and  when  the  favourite  counties 
of  Kent,  Surrey  and  Sussex  get  filled  up,  as  they  are  doing 
already,  those  who  like  quiet  will  go  further  afield.  Auto- 
mobilism,  or  electric  railways,  will  make  travelling  easy,  and 
then  this  corner  of  Essex  with  its  healthy  climate,  its  quiet 
beauty,  its  fertile  soil,  its  fine  oaks  and  other  trees  will  attract 
the  class  of  persons  who  want  a  nice  house  and  a  few  acres 
of  land.  Then  land  will  again  fetch  in  this  district  ten  times 
what  it  fetches  now ;  then  there  will  be  plenty  of  employment 
in  stables,  gardens  and  pleasure  farms  for  the  men  who  now 
flock  into  the  towns.  But  this  will  not  be  in  my  day.  But 
even  now  Toppesfield  is  a  pleasant  happy  place  with  inhab- 
itants who  are  not  very  fond  of  strangers,  but  who  are 
essentially  good-hearted. 


TOPPESFIELD,  ENGLAND. 

FROM 

HISTORY   AND   ANTIQUITIES   OF  THE   COUNTY   OF  ESSEX 

(ENGLAND),   BY   PHILIP    MORANT. 

CHELMSFORD,    1 8x6. 


This  parish*  was  so  called  from  some  Saxon  owner, 
named  Topa,  or  Toppa.  It  is  otherwise  written  in  records — 
Toppesfend,  Toppesford,  Thopefield.  In  Edward  the  Con- 
fessor's reign,  some  of  the  lands  here  belonged  to  freemen, 
named  Alestan ;  to  Duua ;  to  Got,  &c.,  but,  at  the  time  of 
the  general  survey,  part  was  holden  by  Eustace,  Earl  of  Bo- 
logne,  and  his  under-tenant,  Bernard;  part  by  one  Ralph; 
and  a  considerable  share,  called  afterwards  Camoys-hall,  by 
Hamo  Dapifer. 

These  lands  were  divided,  soon  after,  into  the  following 
maners: — The  maner  of  Berwick  and  Scoteneys ;  Gaynes- 
f  ords  ;  The  maner  of  Husees ;  Cust-hall ;  The  maner  of  Cam- 
oys,  and  the  maners,  or  reputed  maners,  of  Flowers-hall, 
Gobions,  Hawkeshall,  and  Bradfield.  Most  of  these,  if  not 
all,  are  Duchy  lands,  and  belonged  to  the  honor  of  Clare. 

*Is  of  large  extent,  fruitful  in  its  soil,  and  pleasant  in  its  situation, 
but  not  being  a  great  thoroughfare,  the  roads  hereabouts  are  in  general 
heavy  and  narrow.  The  village  is  but  small  and  rather  mean  in  appear- 
ance.    History  of  Essex  Co.     By  a  Gentleman.     Chelmsford,  1771. 

This  parish  extends  northward  to  Great  Yeldham ;  to  Finching- 
field  on  the  west ;  southward  to  Wethersfield,  and  on  the  east,  to  the 
Hedinghams.  Distant  from  Clare,  five,  and  from  London,  fifty  miles. 
The  village  is  small,  and  none  of  the  roads  passing  through  this  district 
being  leading  thoroughfares,  they  are  in  general  narrow,  and  not  in  very 
good  repair.  The  soil  is  a  deep  tenacious  marl,  retentive  of  moisture, 
and  universally  requires  draining.  Wrights''  History  of  Essex  Cotoity . 
London.,  1836. 

ToppESFiELD.  A.  3332;  P.  861;  Rectory,  value  ^900;  2  m.  SW. 
from  Y#ldham;  B.  6.     A  pleasant,  retired  village  on  a  commanding  emi- 

(119) 


120  THE  TOWN    OF   TOPSFIELD. 

THE   MANER   OF   BERWICKS   AND    SCOTENEYS. 

They  were  separate  at  first,  but  have  been  long  united, 
and  took  their  names  from  their  respective  ancient  owners,  as 
will  appear  in  the  sequel.  Berwick-hall  stands  a  little  way 
south-west  from  the  church.  The  mansion-house  and  lands 
of  Scoteneys  lie  near  Yeldham,  about  half  a  mile  from  Ber- 
wick-hall. These  two  constitute  the  chief  maner  in  this 
parish,  though  not  the  largest.  In  King  John's  reign,  Albrey 
de  Wicy  or  Wykes,  held  this  estate,  of  the  honor  of  Bologne, 
by  the  service  of  three  parts  of  a  Knight's-fee.  He  sold  it  to 
Gerebert  de  St.  Clere;  it  being  then  called  84  acres  of  arable, 

3  acres  of  meadow  and  pasture,  4  acres  of  wood,  45  pence 
rent  of  assize  yearly,  49  days  work,  and  ten  hens.  Part  of 
the  estate,  viz. :  8  acres  of  arable,  5  of  meadow,  4  of  wood, 
&c.,  were  holden  of  Ralph  de  Camoys. 

Scoteneys  was  then  distinct  from  it,  and  belonged  to  Wal- 
ter de  Scoteney,  a  Baron,  who  had  also  the  maner  of  Hersham. 
But,  for  giving  poison  to  Richard  Earl  of  Clare,  whose  Stew- 
ard he  was,  and  to  William,  his  brother,  of  which  the  latter 
died,  he  was  hanged  in  1259;  and  his  estate,  most  probably, 
given  to  John  de  Berewyk,  who  died  in  1312  ;  holding  the 
the  maner  of  Toppesfield,  of  Gilbert  de  Clare,  Earl  of  Glou- 
cester, by  the  service  of  one  Knight's-fee ;  and  his  heir  was 
Roger,  son  of  John  Huse\  more  particularly  mentioned  under 
the  maner  of  Husees.     From  him  it  came  to  Tho.  Rykedon  ; 

nence,  280  ft.  above  the  sea.  The  Church  (St.  Margaret)  is  of  brick,  and 
has  a  nave,  S.  aisle  of  four  bays,  chancel,  and  embattled  brick  tower  with 

4  corner  pinnacles  and  5  bells;  3  dated  1675;  one  1720;  and  one  1779. 
The  body  was  built  in  1519,  the  tower  in  1699.  In  the  chancel  are  mural 
tablets  to  Dorcas  Smyth  (1633);  Robert  Wildes  (1690),  rector:  Thomas 
Willitt  (1731),  rector;  the  Rev.  George  Pawson  (1797);  and  Elizabeth  Erie 
(1655);  also  an  uninscribed  altar-tomb,  on  the  S.  side  of  the  chancel,  with 
floriated  cross,  probably  to  the  founder  of  the  church;  and  brasses  to 
Wm.  Cracherod,  gent.  (1585),  and  wife;  and  to  John  Cracherod  (1534),  and 
wife.  There  is  also  a  fine  incised  stone,  with  an  efifigy  of  a  cross-legged 
knight  in  armour,  and  a  14th  century  inscription  to  Thomas  le  Despen- 
ser.  In  the  chancel  is  a  piscina  and  another  in  the  nave.  The  font  is  a 
rude,  ancient  one.  The  registers  date  from  1559.  The  women  and  chil- 
dren in  this  parish  are  partially  engaged  in  straw-plaiting.  Essex  (Co.) 
Handbook,  by  Miller  Christy.     London,  1887. 


TOPPESFIELD,    ENGLAND, 

The   Parish^  Pump.  Aq  Old    Resident. 

The  Winding   Street. 

St.    Maraaret's  Tov^er.  Berwick    Hail. 


TWO    HUNDRED   AND    FIFTIETH   ANNIVERSARY.         121 

and  Robert  Rykedon  and  others  sold  it,  in  1420,  to  John 
Doreward,  of  Booking,  Esq.,  who,  at  the  time  of  his  decease, 
in  the  said  year,  held  the  maners  and  other  lands,  &c.,  called 
Berewyk,  Scoteneys,  and  Cardeaux,  in  Toppesfield,  the  two 
Yeldhams,  Mapiltrested,  Haverill,  Hengham  Sible,  and  else- 
where. John,  his  son,  succeeded  him  ;  and  held  this  maner, 
with  the  lands,  tenements,  rents,  and  services,  called  Berwykes, 
Scoteneys,  and  Cardeaux,  that  composed  the  maner  of  Top- 
pesfield, of  Cecily,  Duchess  of  York,  as  of  her  maner  of 
Stamburne.  He  died  in  1476.  Johfi  Doreward,  of  Great 
Yeldham,  Esq.,  held  the  same  at  the  time  of  his  death,  the 
last  day  of  February  1496;  and  Christian^  his  neice,  brought 
it,  in  marriage,  to  her  husband,  John  de  Vere,  the  14th  Earl 
of  Oxford  on  whom  it  was  settled,  in  case  of  failure  of  issue, 
and  on  his  heirs  forever.  In  this  noble  family  it  continued, 
till  Edward  [the  17th]  Earl  of  Oxford  sold  it  [he  having 
squandered  away  his  various  estates]  ist  October  1584,  to 
William  Bigge,  of  Redgewell ;  who  died  possessed  of  it,  5th 
January  1585,  and  of  Gounces,  Brownes  Farm,  Broad-oake, 
with  other  estates  adjoining.  By  his  wife,  Dorcas,  daughter 
of  John  Mooteham,  of  this  parish,  Gent.,*  he  had  William, 
Samuel,  Edward,  and  Dorcas.  William,  the  eldest  son, 
who  lived  at  Redfens  in  Shalford,  held  several  parcels  of 
land  in  this  parish,  belonging  to  the  adjoining  estate  of 
Ounces ;  but  Edward,  the  younger  son  had  the  maners  of 
Berwick-hall  and  Scoteneys.  Edward,  his  son,  kept  his  first 
Court  here  on  the  8th  of  October  1635. 

In  1645,  it  came  into  the  possession  of  Robert  Jacob, 
Gent,  and,  in  165  i,  into  that  of  John  Blackmore,  Esq.  On 
the  23d  of  April  1658,  Robert  Wankford,  Esq.,  kept  his  first 
Court  here.  He  had  two  daughters  by  his  first  wife  ;  and  by 
his  second;  Robert,  baptized  12th  June  163 1  ;  and  Samuel,  1 8th 
December  1632.  Robert,  his  eldest  son,  seated  at  Berwick- 
hall,  married  Elizabeth,  daughter  and  heir  of  Thomas  Shelley, 
of  Magdalen-Lavor  in  this  county;   and  had  by  her,  Berwick, 

*She  was  remarried  to  William  Smyth,  of  Cressing-Temple,  Esq. 
and  dying  i8th  December  1633,  was  buried  at  Cressing.  But  her  grand- 
son, Henry  Bigge,  Esq.  erected  a  curious  monument  to  her  memory  in 
the  chancel  of  St.  Margarets. 

For  illustration  of  this  tablet,  see,  The  Ancient  Sepulchral  Monu- 
ments of  Essex.     By  Frederic  Chancellor,  p.  325,  London,  1890. 


122  THE  TOWN   OF  TOPSFIELD. 

who  died  young;  Robert,  Walter,  Shelley  ;  and  seven  daugh- 
ters ;  of  whom,  Anne  was  married  to  John  Elliston  of  Over- 
hall  in  Gestingthorp,  and  afterwards  to  George  Gent,  Esq. 
Mary  was  wife  of  John  Littel,  of  London,  druggist;  and  the 
youngest,  of  Thomas  Todd,  of  Sturmere.  He  died  in  1688. 
Robert,  his  eldest  surviving  son,  had  no  issue  by  his  first 
wife,  Dorothy,  daughter  of  John  Fotherby,  of  Rickmans- 
worth  in  Hertfordshire,  Esq. ;  but  by  his  second  wife,  Mary, 
daughter  of  the  Rev.  John  Oseley,  Rector  of  Pantfeild, 
&c.,  he  had  several  children.  He  was  buried  here  on  the 
20th  of  June,  1708. 

Some  time  after,  the  maners  and  demesnes  of  Berwicks, 
Scoteneys.  and  Gaynesfords,  coming  into  the  hands  of  Mr. 
John  Poultnor,  Attorney  at  Law,  at  Clare,  he  sold  them  to 
Isaac  Helbiitt,  a  rich  merchant;  from  whom  they  passed  to 
Moses  Hart,  and  to  Widph  Ridolphus,  or,  as  some  call  him, 
Michael  Adolphtis,  Esq. 

THE   MANER   OF   GAYNESFORDS, 

Just  now  mentioned,  took  its  name  from  an  ancient  fam- 
ily, who  had  also  Gobions  in  this  parish,  Ashwell-hall  in 
Finchingfield,  NichoUs  in  Shaldford,  &c.  Richard  Gayjt- 
ford,  who  died  20th  May  1484.  held  lands  in  this  parish, 
which  we  suppose  to  be  these.  His  brother  John  succeeded 
him.  William  Butcher  held  this  capital  messuage,  and  24 
acres  of  land,  in  Queen  Elizabeth's  reign.  June  14,  1669, 
Thomas  Guyver,  with  Samuel  Edwards  and  Margaret  his 
wife,  daughter  of  Francis  Guyver,  sold  this  capital  messuage 
to  Robert  Wankford\  from  whom  they  passed  as  above. 
Gaynesfords  is  near  two  miles  south-west  from  the  church. 

THE  MANER   OF  HUSEES. 

Roger,  son  of  John  Huse,  upon  the  death  of  John  de 
Berewyk  in  13 12,  inherited  this  estate,  to  which  he  gave 
name.  This  Roger  sprung  from  the  ancient  family  of  Huse 
in  Wiltshire  and  Dorsetshire;  was  a  great  soldier;  became 
a  knight;  had  summons  to  Parliament  in  1348  and  1349, 
and  died  in  1361  ;  being  seated  at  Barton  Stacy,  in  Hamp- 
shire.    John,  his  son,  succeeded  him.     In  1419,  Alexander 


TWO   HUNDRED   AND    FIFTIETH    ANNIVERSARY.         1 23 

Eustace  and  John  Wood  sold  this  estate  to  John  Symonds. 
Henry  Parker,  of  Gosfeild,  Esq.  who  died  15th  January 
1 541,  held  this  messuage,  called  Hosees,  and  80  acres  of 
arable  and  meadow,  of  John  de  Vere,  Earl  of  Oxford,  in 
socage;  besides  other  parcels  here,*  and  great  estates  else- 
where. Roger,  his  son,  succeeded  him.  William  Cratckrode, 
junior,  held  this  maner  in  1585.  About  the  latter  end 
of  Queen  Elizabeth,  it  was  holden  by  John  Alston,  of 
Belchamp  Oton,  who  gave  it  to  his  third  son,  Matthew ;  and 
and  he  having  no  issue,  bequeathed  it  to  Thomas  Cracherode ; 
of  whom  it  was  purchased  by  Colonel  Stephen  Piper \ 
and  it  is  now  in  the  possession  of  Dr.  Piper  [whose  family 
sold  it  to  Henry  Sperling,  Esq.,  of  Dines  Hall]. 

THE   MANER   OF   CUST-HALL. 

The  mansion-house  stands  near  a  mile  south-west  form 
the  church.  It  took  its  name  from  an  ancient  and 
considerable  familyf  which  were  seated  here  in  King  Edward 
the  Third's  reign.  Afterwards,  it  became  the  Cracherode 
family  that  had  long  been  settled  at  a  place  called  from  them 
Cracherodes,  in  this  parish.  The  first  of  the  name  that  hath 
occurred  to  us,  was  John  Cracherode,  witness  to  a  deed, 
17th  Richard  II.  1393.  His  son  Robert,  was  father  of  John, 
an  Esquire  under  John  de  Vere,  Earl  of  Oxford,  at  the  battle 
of  Azincourt.  John  Cracherode,  Gent.,  son  of  the  latter, 
married  Agnes,  daughter  and  heir  of  Sir  John  Gates,  of 
Rivenhall ;  and  had  by  her,  John ;  William,  Clerk  of  the 
Green  Cloth  to  King  Henry  VIII,  and  Thomas,  who  had  to 
wife  Brigett,  daughter  of  Aubrey  de  Vere,  second  son  to 
John  the  15th  Earl  of  Oxford.  John,  the  eldest  son,  paid 
ingress  fine  for  Cust-hall  in  1504.  He  married  Agnes, 
daughter  of  Tho.  Carter;  and  departing  this  life  in  1534, 
was  buried  in  the  middle  of  this  church,  under  a  grave-stone, 

*Namely,  Shoremeadow,  Foxholes;  a  messuage,  called  Dudmans, 
and  70  acres  of  arable  and  meadow;  two  tenements,  called  Griggs  and 
Algers;  St.  John's  Land,  &c. 

fThe  Cust  family  was  originally  of  Yorkshire,  but  long  seated  in 
Lincolnshire;  as  may  be  seen  in  the  Baronetage,  vol.  iv,  p.  629,  under 
the  article  of  the  Right  Hon.  Sir  John  Cust,  present  Speaker  of  the 
House  of  Commons. 


124  THE   TO\\rN    OF  TOPSFIELD. 

with  an  inscription.  They  had  four  sons  and  four  daughters  ; 
viz.,  Helen,  wife  of  William  Hunt,  of  Gosfeild,  Gent. ;  Joan, 
of  John  Tendring,  of  Boreham,  Gent. ;  Julian,  of  .  .  .  Lee; 
and  Jane,  of  Peter  Fitch,  of  Writtle,  Gent.  William,  the 
only  son  whose  name  is  recorded,  married  Elizabeth,  daugh- 
ter of  John  Ray,  of  Denston  in  Suffolk.  They  lived  56  years 
together  in  wedlock.  At  the  time  of  his  decease,  lOth 
January,  1585,  he  held  this  capital  messuage,  called  Custs, 
and  20  acres  of  free  land,  belonging  of  old  thereto ;  also 
a  messuage,  anciently  called  Cracherodes,  and  afterwards 
Colman's,  in  this  parish  and  in  Hedingham  Sible;  with 
several  other  parcels  of  land ;  particularly  Albegeons,  and 
Camois  Parke,  Pipers  Pond,  &c.  He,  and  his  wife,  which 
died  17th  February  1587,  lie  both  buried  in  the  chancel  of 
this  church,  under  a  blue  marble  stone.  They  had  issue 
five  sons  and  one  daughter;  viz.,  Thomas;  Matthew,  of 
Cavendish;  John,  Charles,  William.  The  daughter,  named 
Anne,  was  wife  of  John  Mootham. —  TJiomas,  the  eldest  son, 
married  Anne,  daughter  of  Robert  Mordaunt,  of  Hemstead 
in  this  county,  Esq.,  a  younger  branch  of  the  Lord  Mordaunt, 
of  Turvey  in  Bedfordshire ;  by  whom  he  had  William,  who 
died  without  issue ;  Thomas;  and  four  daughters:  Frances, 
married  to  Robert  Wilkins,  of  Bumsted ;  Anne,  to  John 
Alston,  of  Belchamp-Oton ;  Elizabeth,  to  John  Fryer,  of 
Paul's-Belchamp,  and  Barbara,  to  .  .  .  Harris.  He  died 
14th  June  1619. —  Thomas,  his  son  and  heir,  then  aged  40 
years,  married  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  Richard  Godbolt,  of 
Finchamp  in  Norfolk;  John,  of  Cranham-hall  in  Romford ; 
Richard;  and  three  daughters:  Elizabeth,  Brigett,  and 
Susan. — Mordattnt,  the  eldest  son,  married  Dorothy,  daughter 
of  Antony  Sammes,  of  Hatfeild-Peverell.  He  died  2d  of 
February  1666,  and  she  6th  of  March  1692.  Both  lie  buried 
in  this  church. — They  had  issue,  Thomas,  baptized  on  the 
17th  of  September  1646;  Antony;  Mordaunt  [who  was  a 
linen-draper  of  London]  ;  and  Mary,  wife  of  Christopher 
Layer,  of  Boughton-hall,  Esq.  Thomas,  the  eldest  son, 
married  Anne,  daughter  of  Christopher  Layer,  of  Belchamp 
St.  Paul;  by  whom  he  had  Thomas,  baptized  the  1st  of  June 
1680.  He  was  buried  in  this  church  the  8th  of  July  1706. 
Thomas,  his    son    and    heir,    sold    this    maner^  in    \']Q^^Jio 


TWO    HUNDRED   AND   FIFTIETH   ANNIVERSARY.         1 25 

Colonel  Stephen  Piper,  mentioned  a  little  before  [whose 
family  sold  in  to  Henry  Sperling,  Esq.,  of  Dines  Hall]. 

THE   MANER   OF   CAMOYS, 

Is  the  largest  in  this  parish ;  consisting,  in  time  past,  of 
two  Knight's-fees,  holden  in  the  honor  of  Clare.  The 
mansion-house  stands  near  the  church,  and  formerly  had  a 
park.  In  Edward  the  Confessor's  reign.  Got  held  this  lord- 
ship, as  lying  in  this  parish  and  Stanburne,  and  then  in  two 
maners;  which,  at  the  time  of  the  survey,  belonged  to 
Hamo  Dapifer.  How  long  it  continued  united  with  Stam- 
borne,  we  cannot  certainly  discover. 

Sir  Ralph  de  Camoys,*  from  whom  it  borrowed  its  name, 
held  it  under  Richard  de  Clare,  Earl  of  Gloucester  and  Hert- 
ford, in  1262,  as  two  Knight's-fees.  He  was  a  man  of  great 
note  in  his  time;  and  after  the  taking  of  King  Henry  III, 
prisoner  at  the  battle  of  Lewes,  was  chosen,  by  the  discon- 
tented Barons,  one  of  their  Council  of  State,  to  govern  the 
Realm. f  He  was  also  summoned  to  Parliament,  24th  Decem- 
ber 1264.  He  died  in  1276. — John,%  his  son  and  successor, 
was  father  of  Ralph,  who  gave  this  estate,  in  free-marriage 
with  his  daughter  Ela,  to  Peter  Gonsell,  or  Gonshill.  This 
family  was  originally  of  Yorkshire,  Giles  Gonsell,  by  Emin- 
entia,  daughter  of  Fulk  de  Oyry,  of  Gedney  in  Lincolnshire, 
had  Peter  \  who,  by  the  said  Ela  his  wife,  had  Ralph  and 
Margaret.  Ralph  dying  in  1295,  was  succeeded  by  his  sister, 
Margaret,  who  had  two  husbands,  first,  Philip  le  Despenser, 
4th    son    of   Hugh  le  Despenser,    Earl    of    Gloucester.     He 

*The  name  of  Cammois  is  in  the  list  of  those  that  came  in  with 
William  the  Conqueror. — Chronic.  J.  Brointon,  col.  963. 

fSee  Dugdale's  Baron,  vol.  z,  p.  767. 

JThis  John  married  Margaret,  daughter  and  heir  of  Sir  John  de  Gates- 
den;  and  she  forsaking  him,  and  living  in  adultery  with  Sir  William  Paynel, 
John  de  Cameys,  as  he  calls  himself,  quitted  all  his  right  and  title  to  her,^  as 
also  to  all  her  goods  and  chattels,  spontaneously  delivering  and  demising 
her  unto  the  said  Sir  William,  and  releasing  all  title  and  claim  to  her  and 
her  appertenances;  as  appears  by  the  deed,  printed  at  length  in  Sir  William 
Dugdale's  Baron,  vol.  i,  p.  767.— After  her  lawful  husband's  decease, 
she  was  married  to  the  said  Sir  William,  and  claimed  thirds  of  Camoys 
estate;  which  the  Parliament,  out  of  due  regard  to  morality  and  law, 
refused  her. 


126  THE  TOWN   OF    TOPSFIELD. 

departing  this  life  in  13 13,  she  took  to  her  second  husband, 
Sir  John  Roos,  and  lived  till  1349.  By  her  first  husband, 
she  had  Philip  le  Despenser;  who,  at  the  time  of  his  decease, 
in  1349,  jointly  with  Joane  his  wife,  held,  of  the  Lady  of 
Clare,  a  tenement  here  called  Camoy's-hall,  by  the  service 
aforesaid.  Philip,  his  son,  by  .  .  .  daughter  of  .  .  . 
Strange,  had  Philip,  who  died  in  1400;  leaving,  by  his  wife, 
Margaret  Cobham,  Sir  Philip,  his  son  and  heir,  that  departed 
this  life  in  1423,  and  held  this  maner  of  Edward,  Earl  of 
March ;  as  also  those  of  Lyndsells,  Little  Stambridge,  and  a 
fourth  part  of  the  maner  of  Thaxted.  He  married  Elizabeth, 
one  of  the  daughters  and  coheirs  of  Sir  Robert  Tiptoft;  and 
by  her  he  had  his  only  daughter  and  heir,  Margery.  She 
was  married,  first,  to  Sir  Roger  Wentworth,  third  son  of  John 
Wentworth,  of  Elmes-hall  in  Yorkshire,  Esq.  a  younger 
branch  of  the  Wentworths,  of  Wentworth  Woodhouse  ;  from 
whence  are  descended  the  Earls  of  Stratford.  Her  second 
husband  was  John  Lord  Rosse ;  by  whom  she  had  no  issue. 
But  by  her  first  husband,  she  had  two  sons ;  Philip ;  and 
Henry,  the  first  of  this  family  seated  at  Codham-hall ;  from 
whom  sprung  the  Wentworths,  of  Gosfeild  and  Bocking;  and 
several  daughters.  She  died  the  20th  of  April  1475.  Sir 
Philip  Wentworth,  her  eldest  son,  and  heir  to  this  estate, 
married  Mary,  daughter  of  John  Lord  Clifford  ;  and  had  by 
her,  Sir  Henry,  father  of  Sir  Richard,  a  Knight-Banneret; 
who,  by  Anne,  daughter  of  Sir  James  Tyrell,  of  Gipping 
in  Suffolk,  had  Sir  Thomas  Wentworth,  of  Nettlested,  created 
Baron  Wentworth  the  2d  of  December  1529.  He  married 
Margaret,  daughter  of  Sir  Adrian  Fortescue ;  and  had  by 
her,  Thomas,  Lord  Wejitworth,  who  held  his  first  Court  here 
the  1 6th  of  June  155 1. — He  had  also  the  maners  Hackney 
and  Stepney ;  and  was  the  last  Governor  of  Calais  under 
Queen  Mary  L  The  4th  of  13th  of  May  1557,  he  sold 
Camoys-hall  to  William  Fitch,  Esquire,  of  Little  Canfield 
It  continued  little  more  than  twenty  years  in  his  name,  for 
he  dying  the  20th  of  December  1578,  it  came  to  his  son 
Thomas ;  who  surviving  him  but  a  little  while,  it  then  fell  to 
his  only  daughter  and   heir,  Mary,  that  had  been  married, 

about  the  year   1556,   to   Francis  Mannock,  Esq 

who  died  3d  of  November  1590   and    was   succeeded  by  his 


TWO   HUNDRED    AND   FIFTIETH   ANNIVERSARY.         12/ 

son  William ;  whose  son  and  heir,  Francis^  was  created  a 
Baronet  the  1st  of  June  1627;  and  had  for  successors,  Sir 
Francis  and  Sir  William.  The  latter  sold  this  estate,  the 
25th  of  March  1 713, to  Matthias  Unwhi,  of  Castle  Hedingham, 
Gent,  who  died  the  i8th  of  September  171 5  ;  and,  by  will, 
bequeathed  Camoys-hall  to  his  brother's  son,  Joseph.  This 
latter  dying  in  September  1747,  was  succeeded  by  his 
eldest  son,  Joseph  Unwiiiy  Gent,  [of  Castle  Hedingham.] 

FLOWERS-HALL, 

Is  about  two  miles  south  south-west  from  the  church.  From 
a  family  that  existed  here  from  1369  to  1572,  it  took  the 
name  of  Flowers.  Thomas  Glascock^  who  died  29th  October 
1 63 1,  held  the  maner  and  capital  messuage  called  Flowers- 
hall,  Giddings,  and  Brownes,  with  appertenances,  of  Edward 
Benlowes,  Esq,  of  his  maner  of  Justices,  in  Finchingfield, 
by  the  annual  rent  of  8  s.  one  cock,  one  hen,  and  an  ^g^  and  a 
half.  It  was  afterwards  Henry  Glascocks.'^  This  estate  paid 
quit-rent  to  Nortofts  in  Finchingfeild. 

GOBIONS, 

Is  denominated  from  an  ancient  knightly  family,  surnamed 
Gobyon,    that    had    considerable    estates    at    Finchingfeild, 

Bardfeild,  Great  Lees,  Laindow,  East  Tilbury,  8z:c 

Sir  Thomas  Gobion  was  High  Sheriff  of  Essex  and  Hertford- 
shire in  1323.  .  .  .  John  Gobyon  is  in  the  list  of  the 
gentry  of  this  county  in  1433.  Richard  Gainford,  mentioned 
above,  under  Gaynesfords,  held  this  maner  of  Gobyns  in 
1483,  of  John  Doreward,  as  of  his  maner  of  Great  Yeldham. 
John,  his  brother,  was  his  heir.  It  was  afterwards  in  the 
Wentworth  family. 

HAWKES-HALL, 

Formerly  belonged  to  a  family  surnamed  De  Hausted ;  from 
whom  it  passed  to  the  St.  Martins,  and  the  noble  family  of 
Bourchier;   in  which  last  it    continued    long.     Some  of  their 

*This  estate  afterwards  became  the  property  of  Mr.  Ralph  Jephson, 
by  marriage  with  the  daughter  of  William  Raymond,  of  Notley. 


128  THE   TOWN    OF   TOPSFIELD. 

mesne  or  under-tenants  were,  Joane,  daughter  of  John 
Gilderich,  of  Peches  in  Finchingfeild,  about  1422  ;  and  John 
Helyoun,  Lord  of  the  maner  of  Bumstead-Helion,  in  1450. 
It  is  described  as  comprehending  100  acres  of  arable,  8  acres 
of  meadow,  8  acres  of  pasture,  and  10  acres  of  wood.  It 
passed  since  to  Bendlowes,  Sic.,  as  Justices  in  Finchingfeild. 

THE   MANER   OF   BRADFIELD, 

Near  a  mile  sout-west  from  the  church,  was  holden,  about 
the  year  1393,  by  John  Bradfend  or  Bradfeild,  from  whom  it 
received  its  name.  He  had  also  the  maner  of  Nicholls  in 
Shalford.  William  Toppesfeild  held  it  of  John  Durward,  at 
the  time  of  his  decease,  in  1480;  and  his  two  daughters, 
Elizabeth  and  Joane  Toppesfeild,  were  his  heirs.  The  latter 
brought  it  in  marriage  to  .  .  .  Paynell,  and  was  his  widow 
in  1498.  The  Paynell,  or  Pannell  family,  was  in  these  parts 
as  early  as  the  reign  of  King  Edward  I,  and  had  an  estate  at 
Redgewell,  where  John  Pannell  lived  in  1385,  and  his  poster- 
ity continued  till  the  reign  of  King  James  I.  Henry  Pannell, 
Esq.,  who  died  the  i8th  of  July  1573,  held  this  maner  of 
Bradfield  of  the  Earl  of  Oxford,  as  of  his  maner  of  Berewikes, 
and  other  lands  here.  His  son  and  heir,  Henry,  was  then 
12  years  old.  [This  estate  afterwards  passed  into  the  hands 
of  Mr.  John  Darby,  of  Little  Waltham,  Essex  co.,  and  at  his 
death  devolved  to  Mr.  Solomon  Edwards  of  Thackstead.]* 

*Some  curious  Roman  remains  were  found  on  June  28,  rSoo,  by  a 
labourer  making  a  ditch  at  the  bottom  of  Red  Bamfield,  belonging  to 
Bradfield  Farm,  situate  about  two  miles  west  by  south  of  the  ancient 
Roman  road  from  Camulodunum  to  Camboritum,  (Colchester  to 
Cambridge). 

"The  sword  blade,  which  was  very  much  corroded  and  broken  in 
two  or  three  places,  lay  across  the  breast  of  the  skeleton  found 
therewith;  it  was  rather  a  singular  situation,  for  in  general  they  are 
found  by  the  side  of  the  person  interred. 

The  metal  vase  zxv^  patera  merit  attention.  The  vase  was  of  that 
form  which  Montfaucon  calls  a  precEfericulum  used  by  the  Romans  at 
their  sacrifices  for  pouring  wine  into  the  patera. 

The  uses  of  the  elegant  little  cups  of  Samian  ware,  one  of  which 
has  an  ornamented  border,  have  not,  that  I  can  find,  been  ascertained. 
As  they  were  interred  with  the  corpse  we  may  suppose  them  to 
have  contained  holy  oil,  gums,  balsams,  unguents,  &c.,  but  this  is 
conjecture  only.  The  real  purposes  to  which  they  were  applied  must 
remain   at  present  in  obscurity;   we  only  know   that   such  things  were 


TWO    HUNDRED   AND   FIFTIETH    ANNIVERSARY.         129 

Olivers  is  an  ancient  capital  messuage  in  this  parish, 
about  three  quarters  of  a  mile  south-east  from  the  church! 
John  Oliver  purchased  an  estate  of  John  de  Raclesden,  about 
1360,  which  is  supposed  to  have  been  this.  He  was  one  of 
Sir.  John  Hawkwood's  Esquires,  companions,  and  fellow- 
warriors ;   and  concerned  in  founding  his  Chantry.* 

Richard  Simon  was  possessed,  in  1627,  of  this  tenement, 
called  Olivers  and  Dudmans,  and,  in  163 1,  Thomas  Glascock, 
above  mentioned,  had  a  messuage,  and  12  acres  of  land 
thereto  belonging,  called  Olivers  ;  f  with  Ashleies  and  Gadleies, 
two  other  parcels.  Here  were  in  this  parish  two  acres  and 
a  half  of  land,  called  Molle,  given  for   one  obit  and  a  lamp; 

used  at  their  funeral  obsequies,  particularly  unguents  and  perfumeTof 
several  kinds  for  anointing  the  body  before  interment;  therefore  we  may 
conclude  that  they  were  used  at  the  funeral,  and  were  afterwards 
deposited  with  the  body,  according  to  the  custom  of  the  ancients. 

Only  one  Roman  coin  was  found,  and  that  very  imperfect. 
Whether  it  was  the  obolus,  the  naulum  Charojttis,  is  left  for  others  to 
determine.  A  nail  and  a  handle  of  a  bronze  patera  were  found  at  the 
same  Ximt^'—Archcsologia,  vol.  xiv,pp.  24-26,  2  plates,  London,  1803. 

*The  friends  and  executors  of  Sir.  John  Hawkwood  founded  a  famous 
chantry,  for  one  Chaplain  in  the  church  of  Hedingham,  to  pray  for  the 
souls  of  Sir  John  Hawkwood,  Thomas  Oliver,  and  John  Newenton, 
Esquires,  his  military  companions,  supposed  to  be  born  in  this  county. 
The  license  for  this  foundation  was  in  1412;  and  the  endowment 
consisted  of  4  messuages,  4  tofts,  420  acres  of  arable,  13  acres  of  meadow, 
20  of  pasture,  4  of  wood,  22  of  alder,  and  12  s.  rent,  in  Sible  and  Castle 
Hengham,  Gosfeild,  Mapiltrested,  Great  and  Little  Gelham,  and  Toppes- 
feild.  The  house  where  the  Chantry  Priest  lived  stands  at  some  dis- 
tance from  the  church,  and  bore  then,  and  still  bears,  the  name  of 
Hostage;  having  originally  been  a  charitable  foundation  for  the  enter- 
tainment of  devout  Pilgrims.  The  patronage  of  this  chantry  belonged 
to  the  Lord  of  the  maner  of  Hawkwoods. 

fThis  estate  was  occupied  at  one  time,  by  Samuel  Symonds,  gent., 
who  came  to  New  England,  in  1637,  and  settled  at  Ipswich,  where  the 
town  granted  him  a  farm  of  five  hundred  acres,  lying  partly  within  the 
present  bounds  of  Topsfield.  This  farm  was  known  on  the  records  as 
"Olivers."     See  ante,  pp.  40,  41. 

The  family  of  Symonds  was  originally  of  Croft  in  Lancashire,  where 
they  continued  in  a  direct  line  for  about  twenty  generations.  Richard 
Symonds  of  the  third  generation  was  seated  in  Great  Yeldham,  at  "The 
Pool,"  on  the  eastern  bank  of  the  river  Colne.  He  married,  Jan.  9, 1580, 
Elizabeth,  daughter  of  Robert  Plumb,  of  Yeldham  Hall.  Samuel,  the 
third  son,  married  Dorothy,  daughter  of  Thomas  Harlakenden,  of  Earl's- 
Colne;  was  a  Cursitor  in  Chancery;  and  had  Oliver's  in  Toppesfield;  but 
retired  to  New  England  with  his  family.     Moraiit. 


130  THE  TOWN   OF  TOPSFIELD. 

with  about  three  acres  more ;  which,  at  the  suppression  of 
Chantries,  were  granted  to  Thomas  Golding,  Esq.  Samuel 
Hurrell,  John  Piper,  Geffrey  Cook,  Matthias  and  Edmund 
Davey,  Tho.  Orford,  and  Tho.  Teader,  have  also  estates 
here.  This  parish  is  rated  to  the  land-tax  at  1692  ^.  i  s.  4  d. 
The  Church,  dedicated  to  St.  Margaret,  is  tolerably 
handsome  and  spacious.  It  was  formerly,  all  leaded ;  but 
is  now  only  so  in  part.  The  chancel  is  tiled.  About  70 
years  ago,  the  tower,  which  was  built  of  flint  and  stone  fell 
down;  but  hath  since  been  rebuilt,  of  brick,  in  a  firm  and 
substantial  manner;  towards  which,  Mr.  Wilde,  Rector  at 
the  time  it  fell,  bequeathed  100  £.  To  it  belong  five  bells. 
Here  was,  anciently,  a  rectory  and  vicarage ;  of  both  which, 
the  Prior  and  Convent  of  Stoke  near  Clare,  whilst  a  priory, 
and  when  a  college,  the  Dean  and  Chapter,  were  patrons. 
In  what  year,  and  by  whom  given  to  them,  is  unknown. 
The  rectory  was  a  sinecure ;  and  so  continued,  till  Thomas 
Kemp,  Bishop  of  London,  finding  the  vicarage  was  grown  so 
poor*  that  it  could  not  maintain  a  Vicar,  or  discharge  the  bur- 
dens incumbent  thereon,  so  that  it  had  been  vacant  and  neg- 
lected several  years,  he  reunited  and  incorporated  again  the 
rectory  and  vicarage.  At  the  dissolution  of  religious  houses, 
the  patronage  of  this  rectory  coming  to  the  Crown,  King 
Edward  VI.  gave  it  to  his  proeceptor.  Sir  John  Cheke;  upon 
whose  unhappy  fall,  it  reverted  to  the  Crown,  and  hath  re- 
mained in  it  ever  since  ;  it  being  a  considerable  living.  There 
are  lands  of  about  six  pounds  a  year,  belonging  to  the  church. 


TOPPESFIELD,  Eng.  ***'<!  found  the  ride  exceed- 
ingly pleasant,  along  the  narrow  but  excellent  road,  which 
winds  its  way  through  an  unbroken  succession  of  luxuriant 
cornfields  and  meadows.  *  *  *  jj-  ^^g  evening  when  I 
arrived,  and  the  'Green  Man  Inn'  received  me.  This  is  a 
small,  but  neat  and  comfortable  tavern,  and    bears  the  marks 


*At  the  petition  of  William  Parker  then  rector,  with  the  consent  of 
the  dean  and  chapter  of  St.  Paul,  and  the  arch-deacon  of  Middlesex. 


TWO    HUNDRED   AND    FIFTIETH   ANNIVERSARY.         131 

of  a  respectable  antiquity.  It  is,  in  fact,  just  such  a  place 
as  the  ale-house  of  Goldsmith's  poem,  and  has  been,  I 
presume,  the  nightly  resort  of  the  Toppesfield  politicians, 
for  at  least  two  hundred  years. 

When  I  went  out  the  next  morning,  I  found  myself  in  a 
small  village,  composed  of  stone  cottages,  mostly  plastered, 
white-washed  and  thatched.  I  saw  nothing  in  them  particu- 
larly pleasing,  beyond  that  aspect  of  neatness,  and  those 
floral  adornings,  which  rarely  desert  even  the  meanest  rural 
home  in  that  beautiful  country.  My  first  visit  was  to  the 
church  of  St.  Margaret.  *  *  *  The  interior  interested  me 
much.  A  place  of  worship  more  rude  in  aspect^  or  less 
adapted  to  comfort,  it  would,  I  am  sure,  be  difficult  to  find 
in  all  New  England.  *  *  *  The  pews  are  narrow,  upright 
boxes,  with  high  sides,  and,  with  the  exception  of  the 
Rector's,  are  uncushioned  and  uncarpeted,  a  few  of  them, 
however,  were  supplied  with  straw  covered  hassocks.  Upon 
the  southern  side  there  are  four  Gothic  arches,  which  rest 
upon  short  thick  columns.  On  this  side  there  is  a  low 
gallery,  erected,  as  an  inscription  shows,  in  1833.  The 
pulpit  and  reading  desk  are  on  the  opposite  side.  These  are 
of  oak,  and  the  former  resembles,  in  shape  and  appearance, 
that  interesting  relic,  the  old  Capen  pulpit.  *  *  *  [In  the 
church  registers  I  found]  the  name  of  Samuel  Symonds,  gent., 
and  that  of  Dorothy  his  wife.  Between  1621  and  1633,  I 
found  and  copied  the  baptisms  of  ten  of  their  children.  *  *  * 
The  Parsonage  is  a  charming  residence,  surrounded  by 
flowers  and  shrubbery,  arid  smooth-shaven  lawns.  The 
present  incumbent  lives  among  his  people  and  seems  to  be 
regarded  with  respect  and  affection.  *  *  *  Here  I  was  in 
a  community  of  several  hundred  people,  not  a  man  of  whom 
owns  one  rood  of  the  land  which  he  cultivates — not  an 
individual  of  whom  possesses  the  house  that  shelters  him. 
These  skillful  farmers  are  tenants  at  will — and  are  perpetually 
struggling  under  an  oppressive  burden  of  rents,  and  tythes, 
and  taxes,  and  rates.  These  hardy  laborers  think  they  do 
well,  if  their  toil  yields  them  the  average  remuneration  of  a 
shilling  a  day.  As  to  religious  privileges  they  have  indeed 
a  sitting,  hired  or  free,  in  yonder  rude  church.  Their  Rector, 
sent  them    by  the  Queen,  may  be  a  good    man,  or  he   may 


132 


THE  TOWN   OF  TOPSFIELD. 


not.  With  the  question  of  his  appointment  or  dismission, 
they  have  just  as  much  concern  as  you  have.  They  are, 
however,  permitted  to  pay  him.  From  that  glebe,  which  is 
made  so  rich  by  their  sweat,  he  draws  an  annual  stipend,  three 
times  as  large  as  that  which  you  raise  for  your  two  clergy- 
men. And  here,  in  a  parish  which  pays  its  Rector  more 
than  thirty-five  hundred  dollars  a  year, — here  within  four 
hours  ride  of  the  grand  metropolis  of  the  world,  here,  in  the 
middle  of  the  nineteenth  century,  a  free  school  is  a  thing 
which  yet  remains  to  be  invented." — Nehemiah  Cleaveland, 
in  Salem  Register,  Nov.  i8^i. 


TOPPESFIELD,  Eng.  *  *  *  «<At  Yeldham  the  only  cab 
we  could  find  was  a  little  dog-cart  with  a  Welch  pony  that 
hardly  came  up  to  the  shafts.  However,  this  was  all  that 
was  necessary  and  the  owner  told  us  he  would  take  us  for 
two  shillings  if  we  'didn't  think  that  much  would  harm  us.' 
He  proved  himself  capable  of  giving  considerable  informa- 
tion about  the  church  and  the  chapels  (as  Congregational  and 
Methodist  churches  are  called  in  England)  as  his  father  had 
been  Parish  Clerk  at  Yeldham  for  a  good  many  years,  but 
when  I  asked  him  the  origin  of  the  name  Toppesfield  his 
answer  was:  *Well,  that's  a  question  I  could  hardly  answer, 
Sir.  They  must-a-caught  it  as  it  come  along.  Come  by  a 
whirlwind  perhaps.'  Mr.  Lane,  the  genial  teacher  of  the 
parish,  told  us  that  the  only  reason  he  could  find  was  from 
the  fact  of  its  being  the  topmost  village  in  the  shire.  *  *  * 
We  had  been  informed  that  some  years  before,  a  gentleman 
from  Topsfield,  America,  had  come  to  see  the  graves  of  his 
ancestors ;  the  woman  who  told  us  could  not  remember  the 
name,  and  so  we  mentioned  over  the  names  of  Cleveland, 
Peabody,  Bradstreet,  thinking  it  might  be  some  of  these,  but 
none  of  them  seemed  familiar.  Finally  the  mother  came  in 
and  said :  'Why,  it  was  the  one  who  had  six  wives,  Joseph 
Smith*  was  the  name.' 


*Joseph  Smith,  the   Mormon  prophet,  was   of   Topsfield  ancestry. 
The  Smith  referred  to  may  have  been  a  descendant. 


TWO   HUNDRED   AND   FIFTIETH   ANNIVERSARY.         1 33 

The  present  school  was  built  in  1856  by  the  then  Rector, 
Rev.  Mr.  Gooch.  It  has  accommodations  for  two  hundred 
children  and  has  one  hundred  and  forty  names  on  the 
register." — Rev,  Lyndon  S.  Crawford^  in  Salem  Gazettey 
Nov.  2Sy  1886. 


TOPPESFIELD,  Eng.  *  *  *  "All  the  fields  are  separated 
by  hedges  and  these  are  generally  well  kept.  The  whole 
country  looks  neat  and  tidy.  *  *  *  The  village  was  but  a 
handful  of  houses  along  a  narrow  road  or  two,  without  any 
sidewalks  to  speak  of.  We  left  our  traps  at  the  'Green  Man' 
inn  and  got  a  glass  of  home  brew,  rather  sour  and  not  very 
good.  *  *  *  The  Church  itself  is  not  at  all  large,  and 
would  hardly  seat  two  hundred  persons.  It  was  built  early 
in  the  i6th  century,  and  has  been  very  well  preserved, 
Even  during  the  Commonwealth,  it  was  not  much  disturbed. 
It  is  one  of  the  very  few  parishes  whose  records  are  kept 
throughout  that  period  without  a  break.  We  were  assured 
that  that  was  a  very  unusual  circumstance."^ — Brandreth 
Symonds,  in  Essex  County  Mercury y  Oct.  2/j.y  i8g^. 


TOPPESFIELD,  Eng.  *  *  *  In  approaching  Toppesfield, 
the  high  hills  of  the  town  come  into  view  before  the  train 
leaves  you  in  the  valley.  The  station  building  might  be 
called  a  primitive  one: — old,  dilapidated,  and  inconvenient. 
Nevertheless  it  serves  for  the  transaction  of  the  limited  business 
of  a  small  country  station.  The  village  is  about  one  and  a 
half  miles  from  the  station,  if  one  takes  the  short  cut  across 
the  fields  on  foot  in  a  direct  line.  The  road  makes  a  detour 
in  a  southerly  and  southwesterly  and  then  in  a  northwesterly 
course  to  avoid  the  steep  acclivity,  and  covers  about  two  miles 
before  reaching  the  village.  The  way  for  the  most  part  is  a 
gentle  ascent, — one  rise  of  many  rods  being  steeper  than  the 
rest. 


134  I'HE  TOWN   OF  TOPSFIELD. 

We  first  reach  that  part  of  the  village  where  the  rectory 
is  located.  It  is  large  and  commodious  for  a  place  of  the 
size  of  that  in  which  it  is  situated.  The  building  is  almost 
entirely  obscured  by  shade  trees,  shrubbery  and  evergreen. 
Passing  on  some  twenty  or  thirty  rods,  in  a  northerly  direc- 
tion, going  by  several  dwellings  we  come  to  the  end  of  the 
street  that  we  have  traversed.  Here  we  meet  another  street 
lying  east  and  west, — the  principal  street  of  the  village.  Near 
the  right  hand  corner  is  St.  Margaret's — the  parish  church. 
Farther  on  to  the  right  is  the  school  house.  Near  the  left  hand 
corner  is  a  chapel  where  the  Nonconformists  worship.  To 
the  westward  some  rods,  is  the  post-ofifice. 

I  did  not  explore  the  whole  village,  but  it  will  be  seen 
by  the  location  of  the  public  buildings  that  I  was  in  the 
central  and  most  important  part  of  it.  St.  Margaret's  Church 
has  been  an  active  force  in  the  village  for  eight  hundred 
years.  .  .  .  The  interior  as  well  as  the  exterior  has  all  the 
marks  of  an  old  structure.  Few  changes  have  been  made  in 
modern  times  that  conceal  its  ancient  appearance.  *  *  *  A 
tablet  on  the  wall  of  the  interior  has  a  list  of  rectors  extend- 
ing back  three  hundred  years  and  more,  I  transcribed 
some  of  the  names  that  may  be  interesting  to  Topsfield 
people.  1559,  Thomas  Donnell,  B.  D. ;  1601,  William  Smith  ; 
1604,  Randolph  Davenport;  1662,  Nathaniel  Ward;  1691, 
Thomas  Willett;    1694,  Robert  Wilde. 

A  curious  fact  to  be  noticed  in  the  list  of  rectors  is  that 
in  the  days  of  the  Commonwealth  there  is  a  break  in  the  list 
with  a  statement  that  there  was  a  vacancy  in  those  years. 
Although  there  was  no  "rector,"  doubtless  there  was  preach- 
ing in  the  church  by  Dissenters  in  that  interval.  The  church 
stands  in  the  midst  of,  and  is  entirely  surrounded  by  the 
churchyard.  The  small  cemetery  is  still  in  use  for  burials. 
I  noticed  that  they  were  opening  graves  in  what  appeared  to 
be  the  oldest  part  of  the  yard.  The  inscriptions  on  the 
oldest  monuments  are  illegible  as  well  they  might  be  in  a 
cemetery  eight  hundred  years  old.  I  noticed  the  monument 
of  Henry  Howlett,  who  died  in  1773,  aged  72. 

The  chapel  of  the  Nonconformists  I  did  not  enter.  It  is 
a  very  plain  and  unpretending  building. 


TWO    HUNDRED   AND   FIFTIETH   ANNIVERSARY.         1 35 

The  post  office  is  in  the  house  of  the  post  master. 
Apartments  of  modest  proportions  are  set  apart  for  the 
government  office.  There  is  no  room  for  the  floating  popu- 
lation of  the  town  to  assemble  in  for  social  intercourse,  to  talk 
over  the  news  of  the  day,  and  enjoy  the  village  gossip.  In 
fact  if  there  was  such  a  place  in  the  village  I  failed  to  dis- 
cover it. 

The  houses,  barns,  and  out-buildings  are  generally  built 
of  brick.  The  style  of  architecture  is  not  pretentious.  There 
is  not  the  facility  for  architectural  display  in  small  brick 
buildings,  that  there  is  by  working  in  wood.  I  noticed  here 
as  well  as  through  England,  as  far  as  I  travelled,  the  pro- 
jecting second  story  of  old  houses,  like  that  of  our  own 
Capen  house.  One  house  in  particular,  better  than  the 
average,  in  the  old  style,  I  was  informed  was  a  modern  built 
house.  They  have  a  way  in  England,  and  I  think  to  a  great 
extent,  of  building  after  the  style  of  several  hundred  years 
ago,  to  have  the  buildings  conform  those  in  the  neigh- 
borhood. 

The  most  of  the  people,  I  suppose,  would  be  reckoned 
in  the  middle  class.  Some  as  indigent  or  poor.  The  better 
classes  have  comfortable  homes,  and  show  intelligence  and 
cultivation. 

Toppesfield  is  especially  an  agricultural  town.  It  has  a 
good  soil.  The  soil  of  Essex  is  not  as  fertile  as  that  of  some 
other  parts  of  the  kingdom.  I  heard  Englishmen  in  speak- 
ing of  the  county,  say  that  the  land  in  Essex  is  poor.  Such 
may  be  the  case  as  far  as  the  county  in  general  is  considered, 
but  I  think  an  exception  must  be  made  in  the  case  of  the 
plateau  upon  which  Toppesfield  is  situated ;  for  there  the 
farmers  were  harvesting  good  crops  and  the  land  was  making 
abundant  returns  for  the  labor  and  skill  of  the  husbandmen  ; 
much  better  probably  than  the  average  of  the  county.  The 
principal  crops  are  wheat,  barley,  vegetables  and  hay.  Being 
remote  from  any  large  town,  market  gardening  is  not  carried 
on.  Much  of  the  hay  crop  is  stacked  in  the  fields  where  it 
is  gathered,  as  it  is  in  other  parts  of  England.  I  noticed 
stacks  that  had  breasted  the  storms  of  one  or  more  winters, 
notwithstanding  the  great  demand  for  forage  on  account  of 
the  wars   in   which   the   nation    was    engaged.     The    barley 


136  THE  TOWN   OF  TOPSFIELD. 

product  is  largely  used  for  malt  to  brew  the  universal  English 
beer.  It  was  wheat  harvest  when  I  was  there.  I  saw  an 
abundant  yield  of  wheat  on  the  highest  land  in  the  village, 
as  large,  I  should  judge,  as  that  of  the  most  fertile  parts  of 
the  island.  The  parish  of  St.  Margeret's  has  some  of  the 
best  land  in  the  place,  I  do  not  know  how  many  acres,  some 
of  which  is  divided  into  small  "allotments,"  each  of  an  acre 
or  less,  one  half,  one  quarter,  or  one  eighth  of  an  acre. 
These  are  let,  at  a  low  rental,  to  indigent  people  of  the  parish 
who  have  no  land,  the  proceeds  of  which  go  to  help  other 
poor  people. 

The  following  Toppesfield  names  taken  from  the  voting 
list  are  of  interest  as  being  common  to  our  own  Topsfield 
and  vicinity: — Allen,  Barker,  Barnes,  Clarke,  Davison,  Hale, 
Hardy,  Palmer,  Reed,  Rice,  Smith,  Wilson. 

Justin  Allen,  M.  Z>.,  March  75,  igoi. 


